Melody for My Dear
by Cloud Write
Summary: After saving her life, Fluttershy begins to form emotions for Big Macintosh. However, several obstacles get in the way: Fluttershy's shy personality; Angel's mischief; and conflict between Big Macintosh and Applejack. Because of this, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are on a mission to help "nudge" the two ponies together.
1. As the Rain Falls

A Melody for my Dear

Ch. 1

This would have been a normal day in Ponyville, if it was not for the cloudy weather drifting over the small village. The weather patrol was out and about gathering clouds to create a small downpour to make up for canceling last week's rainfall. The wind was at a slight breeze, but was steadily starting to pick up, causing every pony to hurry to their homes. At the marketplace, a yellow pegasus was making her final purchase from the errands she was running for the day.

"Okay, let me see…" she said to herself. "I got birdseed, nuts, assorted fruit basket, leafy greens… oh I believe I am forgetting something…" A rabbit emerged from her satchel and was holding a sheet of paper in its hand. It angrily opened the sheet of paper and held it in front of the shy pegasus' face. The young rabbit pointed at the last listed item: carrots. "Oh, I'm so sorry Angel… I was just about to forget," she smiled while her rabbit scowled at her.

She trotted over to the stand that was selling carrots and said, "May I please have a bundle of carrots."

"Sorry mam but this stall is closed," the pony at the stall said bluntly.

"Oh, but I need some carrots for my rabbit."

"Like I said, we are closed…" Angel then jumped off of the pegasus' back and thumped onto the stall table, pointing at the words "carrots" angrily on the list. The stall pony looked at the rabbit with a bit of a glare, then sighed and said, "Okay, fine." She then pulled out one carrot and said, "Two bits."

"Umm, can I have a bit more, please?" said the shy pegasus, but the stern look from the pony behind the stall meant no. So the pegasus put the bits on the table and the rabbit snatched the carrot off of the stand and jumped back into the satchel.

As the pegasus starts to walk away from the stall, a voice comes from behind and says, "Darn stall clerk, being all mean to yea, ay Fluddershy?" It was Applejack, an orange colored earth pony, with a blond mane in a ponytail (ponytail, oh the irony).

"Oh, hello Applejack," said Fluddershy in response to her friend. "How was your day at the market?"

The orange colored pony sighed and said, "Not good today Fluddershy. Gosh darn weather patrol had to make today a downpour, and I had a great line of apples ready to sell today." Applejack looked back at her apple stall, where Big Macintosh was starting to take down the stall and put the pieces in the back of a hay wagon. "I need to skedaddle on home before the roads get all wet and it will be hard to pull the apple wagon through the mud."

"Eeyupp!" said Big Macintosh from a distance as he was listening to the two mares talking.

Applejack walked over to her stand and got the harness for the wagon to pull the apples back to her farm. Fluddershy saw that Big Macintosh was having a bit of a hard time taking apart the stand and remembered how Applejack said that the rain could make the roads muddy, making it hard to pull the hay wagon back to the farm. So she spoke in a soft voice, "Umm, would it be okay if I help you take down the stand Big Macintosh?"

Fluddershy's ears folded back a bit, but the friendly stallion replied, "Eeyupp." The two of them smiled at each other, when Applejack shouted at them, "You two have fun, an' I'll see you back at home Big Mac, and please be careful."

"Okay, goodbye Applejack!" waved Fluddershy as Big Macintosh waved his hoof. After they said their farewells, Big Macintosh went straight back to work and continued to take down the stall. Fluddershy was going to start helping, when she felt a tap on her head. She looked behind her and saw her rabbit holding the leaves of a once was carrot. "Oh, you want another carrot Angel?" The rabbit shook its head, but Fluddershy said in an accuard tone and said, "I'm sorry, but umm… I don't think I can get you another ca…" The rabbit was not happy with the response that was given to him and threw the leaves of the carrot in her face. "Umm, please don't be like this please?"

As this was going on, Big Macintosh noticed Fluddershy having a bit of an issue with her angry friend. He then walked over to the wagon and pulled out a large sack and walked over to the pink haired pegasus. Big Macintosh then set it on the ground and after loosening the tie around the sack, it revealed a large assorted amount of produce. There were celery, lettice heads, potatos, and carrots. Angel and Fluddershy saw the generocity from the red colored stallion, and the rabbit jumped into the sack. It was about to take a bite, when Fluddershy said in a nice tone, "Now now Angel, let's show some manners." The rabbit crossed its arms as the pegasus said, "Do you mind if we borrow some carrots from you?"

"Nnnope!" smiled the red stallion.

"Oh, thank you Big Mac." They both smiled and they continued to take down the stand. As they were, Angel was still inside of the sack, feasting on the carrots, for it was hungry. With the two ponies working together, taking down the stall was no problem and the task was finished in no time. When the two finished, they realized that it was getting dark out, and with the clouds blocking the sun, light was becoming more absent by the minute. "Well, I must be on my way home," said the shy pegasus.

"Eeyupp," responded Big Macintosh.

"Again, thank you for the…" A crack from a lightning bolt broke through the air, and Fluddershy shrieked and hid under the wagon.

Rain soon stared to fall from the sky as the red stallion put on the harness for the wagon. He was about to start walking to the farm when he forgot that Fluddershy was taking refuge under the wagon. The look on the pegasus' face worried him and he wanted to make sure she got home. He looked down at her and said, "Mind if I escort ya home?"

The pegasus looked up and said, "Oh no. If you do, you might catch a cold, or get the wheels caught in the mud. Besides, my house is away from the farm, so you will be making twice…" Another flash of lightning followed by the thunder caused her to whimper and cover her eyes with her hooves. Angel looked at her and shook his head in disappointment from Fluddershy's cowardliness.

Big Macintosh reached his hoof under the wagon and said, "Don't you worry, I don't mind the extra work." The shy pegasus took Big Macintosh's hoof and helped her from underneath the wagon. Rain was starting to get onto her and Angel, so the rabbit quickly pulled out an umbrella and covered him and Fluddershy.

"Are you sure? I mean, it is dark and cold out… and scary."

"Eeyupp!"

Fluddershy was now sure that he will not change his mind, so she allows him to follow her home. "Okay just stay close please…" she said with a shy tone.

Big Macintosh nodded and the two of them started on their way to Fluttershy's home.

(Scene Change [I will work on scene transitions until I find out why I cannot use asterisks])

Darkness was quickly engulfing the light. Luckily, there were lampposts at the roads, or there would be no vision of the road. The two ponies walked on the road to Fluttershy's home, trying to make haste because of the rain. The shy mare was walking close to Big Macintosh, scared she might lose sight of him in the dark rainy night.

"Umm, Big Mac?" said Fluttershy in a quiet tone.

"Eeyup?"

"T-thank you for the offer to w-walk me home," she spoke as she shivered from the cold air. Big Macintosh nodded with a smile as a response to the mare.

Fluttershy smiled for a while, feeling a bit of comfort for having Big Macintosh being so brave for her, though it was just a way of helping out a fellow mare after all. She then started to look around at the forest, surrounding the road as they walked on. The trees had a dark-green color on them from the light that the lanterns were making.

A pair of bright eyes leers out from a hole in a tree, causing Fluttershy to shriek and hide behind Big Macintosh. Then a light "hoo" sound comes from the tree. She now slightly relaxed pegasus comes out from behind the stallion and walks towards the tree ad says, "It is cold and rainy out tonight Mrs. Owl. Stay inside tonight and I will bring some yummy food for you in the morning." The owl from the tree replied with another "hoo" and the yellow pegasus smiled with joy. She then looked back at Big Macintosh, who had stopped because of Fluttershy's action towards the owl. "Oh, I'm so sorry Big Mac…" she said with her ears folded back. "Did I keep you waiting?"

"Nnope," replied the stallion.

"Oh, okay…"

They then continued on their way to Fluttershy's house, as Big Macintosh was thinking to himself. _I don't understand why she can get so paranoid over making some pony angry_, he thought. The stallion looked at the scared pegasus and said, "Fluttershy, no need to be afraid. I'll make sure you get home safely."

"Oh, thank you," she lightly smiled, but she was still frightened of the darkness that surrounded them.

Moments pass, when a large and thick tree becomes visible from a good distance away. "Oh, look Angel! We are almost home." The rabbit was still sitting on her back holding up an umbrella, unhappy with the task he was given. Big Macintosh was relieved to know that they are almost to her house. He did not realize that her home was further than he expected.

A flash of lightning dashed through the air, making the pegasus more frightened and started to walk a bit quicker. Another flash of lightning bolted through the air, making Fluttershy freeze in her tracks in fear. Big Macintosh was right behind her, when yet another bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, and pierced right through the large tree. From both Fluttershy and Big Macinosh's surprise, the tree began to fall in the pegasus' direction. She started to run, but was quickly tripped by a tree root and fell to the ground, making Angel to fall off her back.

Time had seem to have frozen for Big Macintosh, for he had to make a quick disision. If I kick the trunk of the tree, I could snap it, but risk having the upper part of the tree fall on top of Fluddershy. Using the wagon to stop the fall of the tree won't do any help, because the tree would most likely crush the wagon, along with Fluttershy.

The tree began accelerating, falling faster towards the pegasus, frozen in fear, unable to move. She held onto Angel closely, while he tried to squirm his way out of her arms. Fluttershy then closed her eyes, ready for the tree to crush her with its weight.

(Scene Change)

A soft pitter patter from the rain tapped on the window from the home of Applejack. A filly was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking into the flames that flickered in the fire. She was a yellow colored earth pony with a large pink bow in her mane. Her dark pink hair glowed from the light of the fire. The eyes of the young pony were half closed as she stared at the flames.

A voice came from behind, "Applebloom, it's time for bed." The filly wanted to respond, but was still silent as she continued to stare back at the fireplace. "Now come on. You need your sleep."

Applebloom looked behind her and spoke, "Big sis, you worried about Big Mac?"

She saw her older sister standing on the stairway. Applejack was not wearing her hat because she just finished washing her hair and still had her hair in a ponytail. She then smiled and said, "Oh don't worry so much lil' sis. He will be fine, I know it." Applejack then walked down the stairs and sat next to Applebloom, putting an arm around her little sister.

Despite the comfort from her old sister, Applebloom looked up with a nervous look on her face and said, "But still, you and Big Mac worry me. I know I should believe in my older brother, but sometimes you or Big Mac don't come home till mornin', or even longer. Remember the time when you had that sleep over at Twilight's place?"

"Yeah, what about it sis?"

"Well, you never told me or Granny that you will be home till mornin'. You have no idea what thoughts were going through my head when you didn't come home that day. Even Sweetie Bell was worried about her big sis and she was all alone in that big shop of hers."

"I told you I was sorry for that Applebloom and I won't do it again."

"Then please go see if he is on his way." The little filly gave Applejack a puppy dog stare, with a sad look on her face.

Applejack then let out a long sigh and said, "Alright lil' sis." A bright smile came from Applebloom and she hugged her sister. Applejack then got up and ran up the stairs. A few moments later, she came down the stairs wearing her hat. Before opening the door, the older sister turned and said, "I'll have Big Mac wake you when he gets back so you don't have to worry." Before Applebloom could reply, the older pony was already out the door and headed towards town.

A smile was on the filly's face as she saw her sister run out into the rain to go check on her big brother. An old voice came from upstairs and said, "Scoot your caboose little filly, it's time to get some shut eye!"

"Okay Granny Smith." Before walking up the stairs, Applebloom looked out the dark window and thought to herself, maybe I worry too much. Maybe, but…

(Scene Change)

The splinters of the tree cracked louder as the tree continued breaking in two. She held her eyes tighter, ready for her final moments, and heard a loud thump. At first she thought the tree fell on top of her, but then felt some leaves from the tree brush on her face. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the tree has been stopped falling and that Big Macintosh had his back legs holding the tree from falling. He was holding the tree trunk from the middle and the tree was about to split apart from the now splintered tree trunk.

"Go, now," he said as he grunted, struggling to hold the tree up with his hind legs. Fluttershy scrambled to get up and moved from underneath the tree. While she was save, the red earth pony was struggling to hold the trunk up. If only the tree had splintered off, thought Big Macintosh. He could not push the tree trunk away because it was still attached to the trunk.

The scared pegasus looked at him in worry and said, "What about you? Will you need help?"

"N… nope," he grunted once again, as he started to lose strength and his back legs started to bend in slowly. Fluttershy was about to run but then thought to herself about how he saved her and now it was her turn to return the favor. She quickly ran over to the wagon and quickly put on the harness from the wagon and pulled it to where she fell down. Big Macintosh then slowly lowered the tree and settled it on top of the wagon. He then stumbled and fell forward after laying the tree on the wagon. With his legs sprawled out, Fluttershy took off the harness and helped Big Macintosh up to his feet. They both started to laugh in relief from the danger that has just passed them. Angel was sitting a good distance away from the two of them, breathing rapidly from the danger that just occurred just moments ago. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh started to walk from under the tree, when the wagon started to give way to the weight of the tree. The red stallion saw this and shoved Fluttershy from underneath the tree just before it fell, crushing the wagon full of apples, and spilling apples all over the road. A large broken tree branch has pierced Big Macintosh's right hind leg when the large plant fell; however, the rest of his body was not under the tree.

The red stallion yelled in pain as the yellow pegasus shrieked, both looking at where the branch penetrated Big Macintosh's leg. "Are you okay Big Mac?!"

"Nope," he replied with a grunt in pain. Big Macintosh was grinning his teeth and his eyes were clenched shut from the pain in his leg. He looked at where the tree branch pierced, seeing blood bleed out slowly from the wound.

"Oh, what do I do," thought Fluttershy in a panic. She looked around her quickly to try and find some pony to help her, but in the weather that they were in, help cannot be quickly obtained. The pegasus wanted to go and find help, but she can't just leave the one that saved her life not once, but twice in the same day.

She then realized that Angel was with her and figured he could help. She ran over to Angel and said, "Angel, I need you to hurry! Can you please run on home and get the saw? It is the only way to get Big Macintosh free." Her voice was in a panic and wanted to get Big Macintosh to the hospital.

Despite the danger that Big Macintosh was in, Angel was still resistant. He was not happy that Fluttershy put him in danger. Fluttershy was desperate for help. She then said, "If you help, I will make sure you get all the carrots you want for next week." Angels' ears twitched from Fluttershy's request and pondered about it. The pegasus began to panic and wanted to save her friend. She raised her voice in a scared tone, "Please, hurry! I don't know how much time we have." The white rabbit looked into her eyes that were starting to form tears.

Angel then nodded his head and ran up the road towards Fluttershy's house. The pegasus then turned around and quickly trotted over to Big Macintosh and said quietly, "A… are you okay?"

"N… nope," he grunted with a worried tone in his voice. "Are you umm… going to saw off my leg?"

"Oh no," she said with a shocked look on her face. "The branch looks like it could be sawed off, so I figured doing that will free you."

"Well, then I am better now," he chuckled followed by a grunt of pain. A look of worry fell upon the red stallion's face. He was shivering from the cold rain and Fluttershy realized how cold it was. She walked over to him and sat next to him. The stallion looked at Fluttershy and was going to say something but hesitated and looked down. Not only Fluttershy was worried, but she was confused and cold as well. Rain was falling down on both of them and the wind was starting to pick up, causing the air to become colder. The yellow pegasus scooted closer to Big Macintosh until her back leg accidentally touched his wounded leg and he grunted in pain, clenching his eyes shut.

Fluttershy jumped up and quickly said, "Oh, I'm sorry!" However, the stallion smiled and he motioned his head for her to sit next to him again. She slowly walked over to him and sat down next to him, but avoided touching his leg, so left a gap between them.

She looked at Big Macintosh while he looked forward as he said, "Would you mind lying next to me?" He looked back at her and continued, "It is quite cold and I'm sure you are cold too."

Both of the two ponies had a flustered look on their face while Big Macintosh still had a worried look on his face. "Oh, but are you sure? I… I don't want to hurt your leg."

"Eeyup," he smiled.

"Oh, okay." She slowly lay next to Big Macintosh and scooted up against him. As her side touched his, Fluttershy felt his shivering body; however, his shivering slowly came to a calm shaking. The pegasus looked at the red stallion who was still looking forward, thoughts on his mind. "What is on your mind," said Fluttershy looking at Big Macintosh's hazel eyes.

He didn't look at her but replied, "Just… what would happen to the farm if somehow I…"

"Please… don't say it… You won't, I promise."

Big Macintosh then looked at Fluttershy with a bright smile, "Yeah, I am worrying too much."

"But I worry too much as well," she said as they smiled at each other. The red stallion winced in pain again from the wound that was in his leg. Fluttershy then gently laid her head gently on Big Macintosh's shoulder. This time he was looking at Fluttershy and she was staring straight out into the darkness.

Such a nice mare he thought to himself. Wonder how she became to be who she is today. After he looked at the yellow pegasus, he too stared out into the darkness, waiting for the white rabbit to make his return with the saw. Time seemed to have frozen in the dark and rainy evening the two ponies were in. After what seemed to be an eternity, Fluttershy lifted her head up and looked at the stallion. He had a tired look on his face, which made the pegasus wonder.

"Are you getting sleepy?"

"Nope," he replied in a quieter tone than usual.

"You look like you are, but why would you look tired in this cold weather?"

Big Macintosh's head began to bob a bit. "I think… it's 'cause of the wound… I'm feeling a bit dizzy."

The pegasus started to panic again and stood up. "Oh no, this can't be good." She began to walk back and forth, pondering what to do. "I don't know if Angel made it home… maybe I should go see if he made it back home… or go get some pony to help."

Just before Fluttershy what about to make a decision, Big Macintosh said, "No need to worry. I am sure that your rabbit is on its way right now."

"Oh but are you sure?"

"Eeyup."

"Okay then, I'll stay."

She then lay next to Big Macintosh again and scoots close to him. I also need the company, he thought to himself. They both looked at each other and looked forward, without another word or emotion. Time once again has seemed to have frozen. The only thing that showed any motion was the rain falling down onto the two ponies. How long has it been, thought the red stallion. He closed his eyes, listening for a sound of any kind; a splash, a hoof, anything.

"…mac…"

The stallion's ears perked up as he heard the voice. He looked at Fluttershy and asked her, "You here that?"

"What?" She too looked up and around them.

"Macintosh… where are you…"

"Sis? Yea hear me!?"

Soon the sound of splashing came to ear and grew louder and louder. The voice was close and a loud shout came from behind the tree, "Mac, you hear me?!"

"Yeah," said Big Macintosh calmly as he looked behind himself.

"Applejack," shouted Fluttershy as she ran behind the tree. She saw the blond haired pony with her cowboy hat drenched from the rain and hugged her. "I'm so glad you are here."

"What in tarnation is goin' on Fluttershy," replied Applejack in confusion.

"It's Big Mac! He is stuck," she replied with a panicky tone in her voice.

"Where?"

"Under the tree sis," replied the stallion.

"What?!" Applejack ran around the tree followed by Fluttershy, to see her brother trapped by the branch that pierced his leg. "How did this happen? What's goin' on? Where are the apples? When…"

"I know there are many questions to ask sis, but I am in a bit of need," said Big Macintosh in a bit of a quiet tone.

"You don't sound like you are worried Big Mac."

"Well I don't know where the branch pierced, but I have lost a bit of blood and I am feeling quite faint."

Fluttershy whimpered a bit as he spoke about his loss of blood. Applejack then said, "Have you sent anypony to get help?"

"Yes, Angel went to go get a saw from by home to cut…" Fluttershy was cut off by Applejack.

"You ain't cuttin' off my brother's leg!"

"No sis," Big Macintosh chuckled. "The branch is long enough to be cut without any harm will be dealt to my leg."

Applejack looked at the branch that penetrated his leg. It did look like it was easy enough to saw off, but time was running out, so she thought of another way to free him from the tree. "Hay, Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"Can you nuzzle my brother?"

"What," replied the pegasus with a light blush on her face. She looked at Big Macintosh, who too had a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, can you do that?"

"Umm… okay…"

"Thanks. This won't take long."

Fluttershy faced Big Macintosh and sat in front of him. The two ponies looked at each other, as Fluttershy brought her face close to Big Macintosh. Her face red, she touched the stallion's nose with hers and closed her eyes tight from embarrassment. After a short while, she slowly opened her eyes and was met with Big Macintosh's hazel eyes.

The look on his face was no embarrassment, but was slightly smiling. "Why are you embarrassed?"

Her ears folded down and said, "I just… haven't done this with another stallion before…"

"Me either… Well I would not have done this with another stallion but…" Fluttershy giggled at what Big Macintosh said after he realized he misunderstood her statement. They smiled as Big Macintosh continued, "Anyways, I have not done this with any mare before." A shy tone could be heard from his voice. "And… you are AAAHHHHGGGG!" Fluttershy shrieked and jumped back from Big Macintosh's spontaneous scream in agony. The two ponies looked back to see that Applejack had broken the tree branch by bucking it with her back legs, freeing her brother. Sadly, there was more casual damage done to the stallion's leg because when she kicked the branch, slightly more flesh was cut and opened the wound even more. More blood started to slowly ooze out of his leg and made Fluttershy shriek even more. "A bit of a warning would have been nice sis!"

"I could have, but then you would have been more hesitant," replied Applejack. She walked over to her bother and tried helping him up. "Can you stand?"

He tried standing a bit on his own, but the weight he put on his leg was too much pain and he fell to the ground in agony. Both mares were in worry and felt sorry for the pain that Big Macintosh was enduring.

"Fluttershy," said Applejack with a worried look on her face. "Help Big Mac onto my back and we will run him to the hospital."

"Oh, okay." The two mares then helped him up a second time and got him onto Applejack's back. He grunted in pain as he went onto her.

"Hold on big brother, this will all be over soon."

"Ee… eeyup," said Big Macintosh with a grunt in pain.

"I'm coming too Applejack. I just want to make sure you get there too," said Fluttershy with determination.

"Alright, let's get a move on," said Applejack as she took off, Fluttershy following from behind. The pegasus was trailing a bit behind because of the rain falling in her face, but was determined to keep up. It wasn't before long when the three ponies made it out of the forest path and had the town in sight.

"I can see the hospital from here," said Fluttershy in relief.

"Yea hear that Big Mac? We're almost there!"

"Eeyup," said the stallion calmly but still in pain.

(Scene Change)

Rain continued to fall outside of the hospital walls. The air was calm inside of the hospital, with the lights brightly lit inside. The two mares sat outside of a hospital room waiting for news to come about Big Macintosh. Fluttershy was telling Applejack what had just occurred moments before her arrival.

"And so, he pushed me out of the way just before the tree crushed the apple wagon."

"I sure am surprised that Big Mac reacted so quickly."

"I know, but I am so sorry about the apple wagon…"

"Oh hush sugar cube. If you hadn't acted, who knows what would happen."

"I try not to think about it…" Fluttershy looked down in worry that something wasn't right. What did she forget?

The door to the hospital room slowly opened as the doctor and two mare nurses walked out of the room. The doctor had a bit of brown curly hair with a scalpel for a cutie mark and the nurses had blood red hair, white colored bodies, and a red cross for a cutie mark.

A nervous look fell on Fluttershy, but Applejack was confident the news was going to be a good one. "So what's the news doc?"

He spread stretched his wings and the light brown pegasus said, "Your brother is now in good condition."

"Thank heavens," said Applejack as Fluttershy sighed in relief.

"Oh umm, can we see him," said the yellow pegasus from behind Applejack.

"But of course." The two nurses and doctor moved out of the way and the two mares looked into the room to see the red stallion asleep in the hospital bed. His wounded leg was not visible and was under the green blanket that Big Macintosh slept under.

Applejack and Fluttershy smiled and were about to walk in, but was blocked by the two nurses who walked into the doorway. "I am sorry, but the patient needs his rest," spoke one of the nurses calmly.

"Oh okay," replied Fluttershy shyly and walked backwards.

Applejack looked at the doctor and spoke, "What's the word on my brother's leg?"

He folded his wings back and said, "Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the branch did not break or shatter any bone in his leg. The bad news is the flesh for the leg to grow back may take a few months. The hole in his leg was quite a large on, but not too big. We will need to perform a bit of surgery to heal the leg back to full health."

Applejack chuckled as the doctor finished, "He is going to hate being stuck in a hospital bed all the time."

"Not to worry. After we make sure the leg will make a full recovery, we will allow him to use a wheel chair."

"Even that doc will drive him to the apple core."

"Yes, but anyways, we will allow you to visit him at any time during the day…"

"DOCTOR!" A blue colored pony with a pink mane ran in their direction.

"What is it nurse," replied the doctor in concern.

"There is something outside of the hospital!"

The two nurses beside the doctor giggled a bit as the doctor replied, "I know you are afraid of storms, but there is nothing to be afraid of. It is probably a patient outside."

Despite the confusion Applejack and Fluttershy were in, the nurse ran to the window down the hall and pointed to something standing in the rain. "It is a monster, killer thing! See for yourself!"Everypony walked away from the hospital room and walked over to the window to see what the nurse was panicking about. Outside, a small dark figure was standing in front of the hospital, wielding a saw in its hand. "There it is! I told you."

They all looked at the figure when a flash of lightening bolted somewhere in the sky. Fluttershy shrieked and was about to hide, when the flash of lightening revealed that the figure was a rabbit. "Oh no, Angel!"

Fluttershy ran down the hall as the frightened nurse yelled, "No, don't go outside!" However, the pegasus did not respond and ran out of sight.

Moments later, the ponies looked outside of the window to see Fluttershy approach the rabbit. Fluttershy spoke to the rabbit in a shy tone, "Oh good, you got the saw." Angel's face would have been an angry face, but he was too cold to be mad. "Oh, I am so sorry Angel. Let's get you inside." She picked up the soggy rabbit, placed him on her back, and walked into the hospital doors.

Shivering in a towel, Angel was chattering his teeth, eating carrots quickly down as if he was a wood chipper. The yellow pegasus sat in the waiting room with Angel in her arms, holding carrots on one hoof and feeding them to him. "You did something very brave today Angel," smiled Fluttershy. The rabbit was still shivering but lifted his head and smiled in pride of what he did.

As she continued to feed the rabbit, the two white nurses in the hallway were teasing the frightened nurse about what she was scared about. "It was just a little rabbit," giggled one of the nurses.

"Well you don't see a rabbit wielding a saw every night shift, now do we," retaliated the pink maned pony.

While the three nurses argued, the doctor was talking to Applejack. "…And that is what's going to happen during the time your brother stays here at the hospital."

"Thanks doc."

The two of them looked at Fluttershy and the doctor said to Applejack, "Your brother did a brave thing to save your friend."

"Not just my brother, but Fluttershy saved him too. I owe it to her that she thought quickly to get him from under the tree."

A pause in the conversation occurred as they continued to look at Fluttershy feeding the rabbit. The doctor looked at the cowpony and said, "Your friend seems worried about Big Macintosh."

"Oh she is just like that for every pony," smiled Applejack.

However, the doctor did not think that was the case. "I have studied all anatomy of ponies and I can tell certain things are different when things are not so obvious."

Applejack was a bit confused. "Come again doc?"

"It may be just me, but I think your friend might have a crush on your brother. She may have a caring personality, but love can be formed in the blink of an eye." The mare looked back at Fluttershy in silence, thinking about what the doctor had said. "Well, you and your friend should take a hospital bed and wait till morning for the rain to settle." The pegasus doctor then walked away from the cowpony and the nurses stopped their arguing and followed the doctor.

Applejack then walked over to Fluttershy, who had now fallen asleep in the chair with Angel. The rabbit was half chewing on a carrot when he fell asleep. She stood in front of the pegasus still pondering about what the doctor just told her.

"I don't know if the doctor was right or not…" said Applejack very quietly to herself. "…But if he was right about you liking my big brother, I'm not sure if I would be happy about that…" The earth pony then walked out of the waiting room and walked down the hallway to find an empty room for her to sleep in.


	2. Pie for Tomorrow

Melody for My Dear

Ch. 2

Birds flew over the hospital as a new day began for the small town of Pony Ville. Very few clouds were hovering in the air and the skies were fresh and clean from another spring rainfall. Two months have passed since Big Macintosh came to the hospital after the tree branch pierced his hind leg. During his time being injured, he was stuck in a wheel chair until his leg made a full recovery. The poor stallion has not been able to stand for the past two months and was eager to get out of the chair he sat in. Applejack wanted to bring Big Macintosh to town and the farm to ease his boredom, but he scooted away from her every time she brought it up to him. The only thing the stallion wanted to do during the time being at the hospital was to read the Pony Ville newspaper in the cafeteria. Once the stallion gets out of the wheel chair, he will be his good old self.

At the front desk of the Pony Ville Hospital, Applejack and Applebloom were waiting for the doctor to see if Big Macintosh's leg would be healed to the point where he could walk.

"I wonder why you couldn't use crutches big brother," said Appebloom looking up to her older siblings.

"Well the doctor said that he needs to make sure the wound heals all the way before he could walk again. Don't want to open it up and stay in that chair any longer, right Big Mac?"

"Eeyup," replied Big Macintosh a bit slumped in his wheelchair. He was becoming impatient with the doctor because of how long he was taking. Even Applebloom was becoming impatient as well and started to make faces in the reflection of the tile floor. The reflection was very blurry, but doing anything but waiting was keeping her entertained.

After what seemed like a long apple buck season, a nurse came from the left hallway and approached the three ponies. As she approached, the three siblings had a look of anticipation, ready for the news to be given. The nurse pony stopped in front of the desk and said, "The doctor said it is okay for you to no longer use your wheelchair."

"Yea hear that big brother," said Applebloom with joy.

"Eeyup!"

"That is mighty fine news. Thanks for caring for my brother sugar cube," said Applejack.

Before the happy siblings could turn around and leave, the nurse quickly walked over to Big Macintosh and handed him a small container filled with pills. The look on the stallion's face was a bit of a sickened look and glanced at the nurse. "I know you don't like these, but when you take them, your leg will make a quicker recovery." Despite the nurse's fact, the red stallion hated taking the pills. When he would take them, his leg would fall asleep and have an uncomfortable feeling in his leg. It felt like ants were crawling inside of his leg as if a colony lived inside of his bone marrow. Then the white colored nurse opened the jar of pills and took out a yellow pill. The now cowardly stallion puckered his lips as he did not want to take the pill. "Now come on," the nurse beckoned, but Big Macintosh turned his head and tightly closed his eyes.

The white pony sighed, looked at Applejack, and said, "If he does this behavior, you can always do this…" She then lightly poked Big Macintosh in the ribs and caused him to yell "AH!" and crammed the pill in his mouth. A very bitter look fell on the red stallion's face as he painfully swallowed the pill. "There, was that so hard," smiled the nurse.

"E…eyup," he coughed and stuck out his tongue, trying to rid of the pill's discussing flavor. _Great, now I can't even walk home and stuck in this confound chair. Least this is the last day in this worthless contraption with wheels…_ thought the stallion.

"Well, your brother has been checked out and all of the paperwork has been signed."

"Alright, thanks again for being mighty kind to my brother and healin' up his leg," smiled Applejack and the three siblings started to walk out of the hospital and out the doors.

Before the door closed, the nurse called out to them, "Hope to see you again soon!"

Applejack turned around, smiled, and tipped her cowpony hat to the nurse as the glass doors closed themselves, and the three ponies then started to head back to the farm.

"What an awful thing to say," shouted Applebloom, looking up at her siblings as Applejack was pushing Big Macintosh's wheelchair.

"Eeyup."

"What are you yammerin' about Applebloom," said Applejack in confusion.

"Did ya hear what the nurse said?"

"Yeah, just wishin' us well and sayin' her farewells."

"No, how she said…" Applebloom now changed her tone and said in a deep silly tone, "…Oh, hope to see you again."

"Yeah… what about it sis?"

The filly's voice returned to normal and responded, "Shouldn't they have been more caring and say something like…" Once again, Applebloom's said in a sarcastic deep voice, "…Live long and prosper," holding up one hoof next to her face as she pretended to be a nurse.

"Eeyup," spoke Big Macintosh agreeing with his little sister.

Applejack smiled and said, "It's just there way of sayin' be healthy is all." The three ponies were walking through the town of Pony Ville. The straw top villa homes surrounded the siblings as they continued through town. All kinds of ponies walked past them, doing whatever they need to get accomplished before the day's end. Some pegasi flew overhead while earth ponies were on the ground, tending to their homes or shops. "Quite the hustle and bustle today," said Applejack.

"Eeyup."

After walking for some time, the three of them approached the hill in town and started to walk up the hill. There were homes still around them, but significantly fewer because of the incline of the hill. After walking up the hill for a short while, a short figure was starting to approach the three ponies at an extreme rate of speed. As it got closer, the figure started to show that it was a short pegasus filly wearing a helmet, on a scooter.

"Hay, it's Scootaloo," said Applebloom in excitement. She waved at her friend with her hoof, but the orange filly didn't acknowledge because of the rate of her speed. Scootaloo's dark pink air fluttered in the wind and her wings flapped her tiny wings at a fast rate, propelling herself to go even faster. After zipping past the three ponies, Scootaloo was approaching something what looked to be a wooden ramp from the perspective of Applebloom.

The pegaus filly looked up at a cloud that was directly above the ramp. After looking up for a short time, she then looked down at the ramp, grinning her eyes and mouth ready to take off from the ramp. The ramp was curved at a ninety degree angle, so she would shoot up towards the cloud. Body crouched down and hooves on the handlebars, Scootaloo took off from the ramp and shot towards the cloud. Applebloom awed at how high her friend went up, but Big Macintosh and Applejack were more concerned if the pegasus filly was going to make it.

Flapping ever so hard, Scootaloo reached for the cloud and tried to make a grab for it. Despite how fast she was going, it was not long for Isaac Hoofton's law of gravity to take effect. Settling in the air for a moment, Scootaloo flailed one of her arms, reaching for the cloud with one arm, and held onto the scooter handlebar with another. Ever so close she was, her reach was not enough to catch the cloud. Scootaloo flapped her tiny wings violently, hovering in the air for a brief moment trying to grab onto the cloud, but even that was fruitless. Watching helplessly, Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh gasped as soon as Scootaloo began to descend slowly.

"Ah can't watch!" Applebloom buried her face into her sister's mane, because she did not want to see her friend's fate. Blinded by her sister's hair, all the filly could think about is the outcome her friend was about to face. But instead of hearing a blood curdling scream from her friend, Applebloom heard a sigh of relief from her brother and sister.

"What is it Applejack," said Applebloom as she removed her face from her sister's hair. Applejack pointed in the direction of the cloud that Scootaloo was trying to grab onto. Looking very closely, the filly could see her friend in the sky, holding onto her scooter, and dangling from something that looked like a blue arm.

Scotaloo was then pulled up into the cloud and after a brief moment, she was up in the air, flying on the back of Rainbow Dash, a light blue pegasus with a beautiful rainbow mane for hair. The filly pegasus was holding onto her scooter with one arm, and another arm a bit around Rainbow Dah's neck. Seeing her friends looking up at her and Scotaloo, Rainbow Dash flies down towards them and lands next to them, letting down Scotaloo from her back.

"Hey guys, how 's it…" Rainbow Dash spoke but was interrupted by Applebloom.

"Ya nearly gave me a heart attack Scotaloo," she yelled as she hugged Scotaloo tightly.

Scotaloo looked at her worried friend and said, "It's okay Applebloom, I'm fine."

Applebloom mustered up a smile and looked at her friend, tears welting up in her eyes. A light blue arm fell on Applebloom's shoulder and Rainbow Dash said with a smile, "I wouldn't let anything happen to my biggest fan."

"Oh, hehe," giggled Scotaloo, folding her ears in embarrassment. From Rainbow Dash's complement, Scotaloo could not doubt that she was her biggest fan; after all, she is the president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club.

The cowpony looked at looked at Rainbow Dash and said, "Bit of a warnin' woulda been nice Rainbow."

"Eeyup," replied her brother.

"There's no need to fear when Rainbow Dash is here," said the rainbow maned pegasus, raising a hoof to her chest.

"Just don't let yer stubborn pride overcome yer senses, ya hear," Applejack chuckled with a smile.

"Are you forgetting who won the Iron Pony Competition," Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Well maybe if ya didn't use yer wings, it woulda been a fair match."

"Oh yeah?"

While the two mares were getting into each other's faces, Applebloom looked at Scotaloo and said, "Hey, wasn't Applejack holdin' onto mah brother's wheelchair?"

"Eeyup," cried Big Macintosh as his wheelchair accelerated down the hill. The slop had a bit of a steep decline, so the speed of the poor stallion's wheelchair rapidly increased velocity. To make matters worse was that he was headed in the direction of a watermelon stand. The ponies running the stand scrambled to get out of the way, waiting for the inevitable. Rainbow Dash was about to take off to save Big Macintosh when she realized that Scotaloo was on her scooter, revving her way to the helpless stallion. When the filly caught up to him, she grabbed onto one of the handles and steered the wheelchair out of the way of the stand. She then pulled back and flapped her wings to create drag and slow down the two of them to ensure a safe stop. Soon the slope of the hill became flat ground and the two of them came to a complete stop.

Suddenly, there was an uproar of cheering ponies because of Scotaloo's daring rescue. She blushed and her ears folded from embarrassment. Applejack, Applebloom, and Rainbow Dash ran down the hill, happy to see Big Macintosh out of harm's way.

Rainbow Dash then put her head from beneath Scotaloo and lifted her up with the filly on her head. The rainbow maned pegasus then shouted, "Let's hear it for Scotaloo!"

The ponies around Scotaloo once again cheered in applause as she sat up on Rainbow Dash's head, proud of her accomplishment as well as flustered from all the attention given to her.

(Scene Change)

"I never thought you would be so brave Scotaloo," said Applebloom with a smile on her face. Rainbow Dash and Scotaloo were following the three siblings back to Sweet Apple Acres and were almost to the farm. Resting on Rainbow Dash's head, Scotaloo replied with a bit of disappointment, "I wish I got my cutie mark by doing something crazy today and saving your brother sure was crazy." She looked at her flank but saw no cutie mark. Every other pony seemed to have one but her and her two other friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Wonder what that cutie mark would be, savin' my brother an' all," said Applejack in curiosity.

"Maybe the look on your brother's face," laughed Rainbow Dash. Big Macintosh was in his wheelchair with a frozen frightened face with one of his eyes twitching. Just the thought of him crashing into the melon stand still frightened him.

Everypony laughed at Rainbow Dash's remark, except for Big Macintosh who exaggerated a chuckle. "Oh hush big brother," said Applejack as she pushed his wheelchair. "At least yer safe from harm."

"Eeyup," the red stallion replied with a sigh because she was right.

Applejack chuckled and looked at Rainbow Dash and said, "Thanks for helping me out for the past few weeks at the farm Rainbow."

"No problem! Can't leave my best friend hangin'." Rainbow Dash put an arm around Applejack with a smile as they walked to the farm. Because of Big Macintosh's injury, work around the farm would be very slow. So Applejack asked Rainbow Dash and her other friends to help out on the farm during her brother's absence from work.

Before the ponies could realize it, they were already at the entrance to the farm. A white fence surrounded the entire farm and the ponies walked through an opening of the gate with a vine with flowers were hanging onto the overhand as they entered. Chickens were pecking at the ground, hoping to find something edible. There was a corn field to the left of the dark pink barn house, and to the right was a large field of apples as far as the eye could see; some of the trees even wrapped around the neighboring hill that was nearby.

After entering the farm, Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and round the barn with Scootaloo still on her head. Rainbow Dash then sat onto a cloud, next to the wind dile that was at the point of the house. She saw from above Applejack pushing her brother to the front window of the barn and heard Applejack sigh in relief, "Glad to have you home."

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh with a smile and he turned his chair around to see what was behind him. Only thing that Big Macintosh could see was how scattered things were around the farm. No pony was keeping the chickens near their coops, some barrels were lying in the corn field, some filled with produces of corn, and saw messy chunks of straw everywhere. He wanted to see if the apple tree part of the farm was a mess, but he decided to stay put.

"Sorry 'bout the big mess Big Mac," said Applejack chuckled nervously.

"Don't you worry big brother, we will spruce up the place in a jiffy," Applebloom spoke in a cheerful mood.

"Eeyup," smiled the red stallion.

After Applebloom's determination to clean up the barn, Applejack called out to the others and shouted, "Then let's get to it yall! Applebloom, you and Scotaloo go round up them chickens. After that, go clean up the corn field and set the wheel barrels next to the farm shed. Rainbow Dash, come help me in the apple field!"

"On it," said the now the working ponies. Rainbow Dash flew off of the cloud she was sitting on and let Scotaloo on the ground so that the filly pegasus could help Applebloom.

Applebloom and Scotaloo ran off to the chicken coops as Applejack and Rainbow Dash went into the apple fields. Unfortunately for Big Macintosh, he was restrained from leaving his chair because of the medication that he had taken earlier in the day_. Gosh darn nurse cramming that capsule they call a pill thought the stallion as he sat in the wheel chair_. He would rather put in a hard day of work than to lie around and do nothing. _At least this is the last day to be constricted to this confound pair of wheels he_ thought again as he let out a heavy sigh. But for some reason, Big Macintosh felt drowsy, as if the cool shade from the overhang of the kitchen window was giving him an intoxicating sense of tiredness.

Soon, vision in the stallion's eyes began to get blurry and his head began to droop down slowly. The last thing that Big Macintosh saw was Applebloom walking on a barrel backwards and Scotaloo was rolling on the inside of it as the two of them were laughing.

It seemed only a matter of seconds when he closed his eyes and felt a violent rattle from his wheelchair and heard Rainbow Dash say, "Wake up ya lazy colt!"

Time somehow flew by as Big Macintosh slept. It was late afternoon as the sky was at a very orange from the sun heading in the west. Shaking his head, Big Macintosh saw that the chickens were not walking around the farm and the corn fields had no more barrels sprawled out by the stocks and instead, were inside of the barn shed where it was supposed to be.

"That was some mighty fine hard workin' yall," called Applejack to the others. Applebloom and Scotaloo ran over to where Big Macintosh was still sitting.

"Hey big sis," said Applebloom looking up at her sister. "Ya think Big Mac can get off his wheelchair"

"I don't see why not lil' sis. The medicine the doctor gave us should've worn out by now."

Before Applejack can try to help her brother out of the chair, Big Macintosh threw his arms forward to gain momentum, took a stand upwards for a brief moment, and then fell forward to stand on all four hooves. He scraped the ground with his front hoof and shook his back hind leg that was injured by the tree branch. No pain, no aching, but a sudden rush of joy.

"Feel any better brother," said Applebloom in concern.

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh with a very happy and energetic tone. With all the energy he had, Big Macintosh rose on his hind legs, letting out a loud "YEEEHHHAAAWWW" call as he ran out of the barn and strait into the apple fields, leaving his sisters and friends behind. Nothing felt better than to feel the air rush in between his ears and the stallion's heart raced and pumped all of the pent up blood that had been resting in his body for so long. After running for some time, Big Macintosh slowed down and walked out of the fields. From afar, he saw a familiar pegasus talking to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the two fillies. It was Fluttershy and she was looking bright as ever as she smiled and talked to the four of them. Beside her was a basket with something inside of it. Applejack then finished talking and pointed in the direction of where Big Macintosh ran off to and Fluttershy turned her head to see the red stallion. He waved at her with a smile, as she replied with a gentle wave, but shyly lowered her head and her ears folded.

Before Big Macintosh could try to walk over to the group of them, Rainbow Dash was making her farewells to the fillies and Applejack, then flying off with Fluttershy trailing from behind. He wanted to call out, but somehow something held him back. Shrugging off from missing the farewell, Big Macintosh then walked back to the farm and approached the now three of them.

As he approached, Applebloom walked over to him and said, "Big Mac, can you do me a favor for tomorrow?"

"Eeyup," he nodded with a smile.

"Do you mind walking me and Scotaloo over to Fluttershy's cottage tomorrow? We just have to pick up Sweetie Bell along the way is all."

"Eeyup."

"Yeay," said Applebloom and Scotaloo in unison, both happy to have an escort to Fluttershy's house.

"Alright yall, get inside yea hear," said Applejack instructing the fillies to get inside of the house. Jumping for joy, Applebloom and Scotaloo ran inside causing a bit of a ruckus as the two older ponies walked inside. They heard the hoofsteps of the young ponies running up and down the hallway from the second story. Applejack and Big Macintosh both laughed while they entered the home of the Apple Family.

A yawn came from Applejack and looked at her brother and said, "Fewy, I sure am plumtuckered out Big Mac. Mind lockin' up the house before commin' upstairs for bed?"

"Eeyup."

"Alright." Applejack let out a long yawn and slowly walked up the wooden staircase. "Night Big Mac," she called before Big Mac heard a door close from upstairs. Now the stallion was now alone, but the sound of the two fillies thumping the floor with their hooves and giggling seemed to keep him company.

_I always love the sound of my lil sis having fun with her friends _thought Big Macintosh as we walked over to the door to close it and lock up the house. Before closing the door however, the basket that Fluttershy left was resting where she left it. Curiosity overcame the red stallion and he walked over to the basket to see what was inside of it. To his surprise, nothing was inside of the basket. However, the basket was covered in some green vines and leaves and some yellow flowers were attached to the basket. He looked from side to side to see if anypony was looking as he picked up the basket handle with his mouth.

Walking inside of the home once again and locking the door, Big Macintosh wondered why Fluttershy left her basket at the farm. _Did Applejack take whatever was inside of it? Perhaps Fluttershy just forgot the basket in the first place. _Itpondered the stallion on why Fluttershy left it, but then started to think about her. Images of him stopping the tree from falling on Fluttershy flashed in his mind and thought about how she kept him company before help arrived. A smile fell upon Big Macintosh's face and felt his heart warm up. _Wish she would have visited me at the hospital _he frowned.

After spending all of the energy running around the farm, Big Macintosh found himself tired once again and decided to call it a light. Before returning upstairs, he turned off all the lights and placed the basket in the kitchen. He opened his door to his room to see that not much of his belongings have been touched other than his bed, which was made. The only thing left for the red stallion to do was set the alarm and hit the hay. _All I got to do in the mornin' is make the girls lunch for tomorrow an' walk them to Fluttershy's home,_ thought Big Macintosh as he drifted to sleep. _Maybe make… a pie… for Fluttershy._


	3. Nervous Exchange

Melody for My Dear

Ch. 3

Morning seemed to be brighter than usual as the sun glared over the hills as it came up to start a new day. It seemed that Princess Celestica wanted to say hello to Sweet Apple Acres, but the welcome was too bright for Applebloom's face and woke her like an obnoxious wakeup call. The little filly and her friend Scotaloo were both lying next to each other, back to back as the sun light bled onto Applebloom's face. The discomfort caused her to clench her eyes shut and turn over, waking up the yellow filly. Now that Applebloom was awake, she let out a big yawn, inhaling the morning air of the farm; yet, something smelt sweet in the air.

"Hay Scootaloo, wake up," spoke Applebloom in a whisper.

"No… no more autographs please," said Scootaloo as she was still in her dreams. "I know I'm awesome but Rainbow Dash is more awesomer." A goofy smile was on Scootaloo's face as the words slipped out of her mouth.

Applebloom picked up her pillow and plopped it on her friend's face and said with a giggle, "Ya mind signing my pillow."

"That'l be two bits," said Scootaloo in a muffled sound, still in her dream.

"Wake up ya goof ball!" Startled, Scootaloo shot her head up and the pillow flew off her head and onto the floor. "Good you're awake."

Scootaloo was not happy with the rude awakening and turned her head to face her friend had an annoyed look on her face on her look. "Would've been nice if you hadn't done that; I was having a great dream."

"Sorry Scootaloo," Applebloom chuckled.

In retaliation, Scootaloo rubbed her hoof in Applebloom's hair. "It's alright as long as there is some retaliation."

"Hay not the bow! Ya know how hard it is to get this thing in my mane?"

"Not really," Scootaloo shrugged. She then smelled something in the air; something sweet and delectable. "Hay Applebloom, what is that smell?"

"I was trying to wake you up because I think I know what that smell is," said Applebloom in delight.

After adjusting her dark pink bow, Applebloom jumped out of bed and Scotaloo followed behind as they walked out of the bedroom.

"So what is this delicious smell," questioned Scotaloo in curiosity. "Is it an apple pie?"

"Oh, it ain't any ordinary pie," replied Applebloom. The two of them reached the stairway and headed on down the stairs as Applebloom continued, "My brother makes this pie every so often, with the best assortment of apples and finest cinnamon in all of Aquestria!"

"Mmm, sounds yummy!"

They reach the bottom of the stairs and walked towards the kitchen. "Oh you bet! He calls it the…" She was about to finish when the two fillies heard a voice in the kitchen. As they approached, Applebloom and Scotaloo saw Big Macintosh in the kitchen holding both a mixing spoon and what looked like a pony ragdoll in one hoof. It was a gray colored doll with dark blue trousers with polka dots, buttons for eyes and had black wool for a mane and tail.

He then put the spoon in a large bowl and started to mix an assortment of ingredients and started to talk to the doll, "I know it's been a mighty long time since we have cooked together Smartypants. But don't you fret! You get to help me make the second pie that I'm makin' for Fluttershy." After the stallion finished mixing, he then settled the spoon down and had the doll wrap its arms and legs around the spoon. "Now just hold on to that spoon there while I go get the cinnam…"

"What are you doing big brother," questioned Applebloom, interrupting his time alone with the rag doll. Unaware of their presence, Big Macintosh's eyes widened and looked in the entrance of the hallway. His sister had a confused look on her face, while Scootaloo was smirking, finding it ever so difficult not to laugh. On the stallion's face, shock was the only expression that could be found. Even though he was caught in the act, he snatched the doll quickly and hid it in the sink filled with soapy water and hoped the two fillies did not see anything. "You hiding something Big Mac?"

"N…nope," replied the brother nervously. He rose his hoof to the spoon he was mixing earlier and resumed stirring.

"Umm… is Applejack awake?"

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh pointed to the window and outside was Applejack pulling a wagon full of apples and a broken down stand. It was the time of the week that she goes to town and sells some produce at the market. Silence in the kitchen was interrupted when a "ding" from a timer that sat on the stove went off. When Big Macintosh walked over the oven and opened it, it released a beautiful aroma of apple and cinnamon.

"Mmm" was heard from the two fillies as they licked their lips.

Scootaloo saw that Big Macintosh was getting the pie out of the oven and wanted to get a better look at the doll. She walked over to the kitchen sink, dipped her arm into the soap water, and tried to fish out the doll. A feeling of fabric brushed Scootaloo's hoof and she picked the doll out of the water. It was all soggy from the water and some soap suds were in its mane. "Is this Twilight's," said Scootaloo in question.

Big Macintosh did not even realize she took Smartypants out of the sink while he was taking out the pie. He frowned at the fact that the doll was all wet, but was more concerned in getting the doll back. When he walked over to her and reached for it, Scootaloo reached back and said, "So it is Twilight's hugh? You have a crush on her?"

"No," he blurted before he snatched the doll out of her arms. Red blush was visible on his cheeks, embarrassed from the filly's question.

"Oh, come on Scoot, you know my brother is shy about that stuff," Applebloom said still standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, I was just teasing him," replied Scootaloo with a bit of a smirk.

_Sure you were, _Big Macintosh thought glaring at her as he turned away, resuming what he was doing. _Bet yer gonna tell Twilight that I play with her doll._

His little sister approached to his left and said, "Don't worry, she won't tell, Pinkie Promise." Everypony knows that when a Pinkie Promise is made, it is something that cannot be broken. Big Macintosh nodded and resumed making his second pie. "Well, me and Scootaloo will go an' get ready."

Applebloom and Scootaloo were about to go back upstairs to get ready, when Big Macintosh pointed at the table. In the center, there were six pancakes stacked on top of each other with two tiny cups filled with pancakes. The two of them ran over to the table and began eating the pancakes. It didn't take long for the fillies to finish their breakfast. With sugar in their bodies, Applebloom and Scootaloo were full of energy and after putting their dishes in the sink, they went upstairs to get ready for a day at Fluttershy's cottage.

"Come on slowpoke," called Applebloom as she and Scootaloo were standing outside of the door to the house.

While Applebloom was scrapping her hoof on the ground impatiently, Scootaloo was adjusting her cape she was wearing; Applebloom had the same cape her friend was wearing. The cape was crimson and had a blue circle patch near the back sides of the cape. On the blue patch was an image of a yellow pony lifting a front leg. The underside of the cape was a smooth, golden silk. Unfortunately, Sweetie Bell made the cape from Rarity's golden silk that took her hours to make, and almost lost her nerves with Sweetie Bell.

After what seemed like forever, Big Macintosh finally emerged from the home with Fluttershy's basket in his mouth. Inside the basket were two pies and five apples that surrounded the pies.

"Wow, those look delicious," said Scootaloo in delight.

"Eeyup," he replied with a muffled sound.

"Alright Scoot, today is the day we will finally get our own cutie marks," said Applebloom confidentially.

"You bet," replied Scootaloo.

Applebloom looked at back at her brother and said, "Don't worry big brother, we will make sure you get to Fluttershy's safely. And this time, we will make sure no trees fall on ya this time."

"You ready…" said Scootaloo said in anticipation.

"CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS PERSONAL ESCORTERS ARE GO," the two fillies yelled in unison as they gave a high hoof.

Big Macintosh smiled at their silly attempt of trying to get their cutie marks; and this time, "escorting" him to Fluttershy's cottage. _I thought you asked me to walk you to Fluttershy's, ya little numskulls, _thought Big Macintosh as he chuckled.

(Change of Scene)

At long last, the three of them headed into town to get Sweetie Bell before heading to the cottage. Moments seem to pass by quickly as they walked through town to obtain the final filly. They finally arrive to a large house with the most exquisite decorations: a light blue color on the outside walls with a bit of diamond patterns that surrounded the oval windows, yellow striped curtains on the inside of the windows, checkered light pink and light purple on the roofing part of the home, at the top are a balcony with several purple iron bars, two smaller windows and a large one between the two and two purple pony figures that are on the outside of the balcony, and above that, is a set of blue-violet iron bars and resting on top of them is a crown shaped surface, with a striped orange and light orange cone.

Big Macintosh approached the door to the home and knocked at the doorway.

"I'm coming," sang a harmonious voice from inside the home. A humming sound came from inside the house and grew louder as it came closer to the entrance of the door. Perfume seemed to fill the air when the door opened and the gorgeous looking unicorn, Rarity, answered. "Ah Big Mac darling, it is ever so nice to see you again."

"Eeyup," he nodded.

Raritiy's purple hair seemed to flow so gracefully when she turned her head and called to her sister, "Sweetie Bell, your friends are here to you up."

Wind rushed out of the doorway as a short filly unicorn zipped her way to the doorway to greet her friends, "Scootaloo, Applebloom! Glad to see we have an escort to Fluttershy's!"

"Yup, and we need to make sure my big brother doesn't have any trees fall on him today," said Applebloom with a smile.

"And no trees are in sight," Scootaloo replied, hovering an arm over her eyes and looking around.

"Oh girls," Rarity intercepted the girl's conversation. "This daring stallion did a brave thing to save Fluttershy; unfortunately he got hurt in the process."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh replied.

"Oops," spoke Sweetie Bell when she realized her cape was not on like her two friends. "I'll be right back girls." Dashing inside and returning in a matter of seconds, Sweetie Bell now had the cape just like Scootaloo and Applebloom. Her swirly pink and light purple hair was entwined with the knot of the cape when the filly rushed to get her cape on.

"Oh Sweetie Bell," sighed Rarity as she untangled her sister's hair from the knot. "I just curled your hair this morning. I don't want all my efforts go to waste."

"You worry too much Rarity," shooed the unicorn filly.

"I just want you to look your best when you finally get your cutie mark."

"Really?"

"But of course; what are sisters for," Rarity complimented and her arm fell behind her sister's neck.

"Aww, thanks sis," smiled Sweetie Bell, pressing the side of her head against Rarity's chest.

After the feelings were exchanged, Applebloom began to get anxious and spoke, "Come on yall! Time's a wastin' and we haven't gotten to Fluttershy's."

"Alright, let's get going," replied Sweetie Bell. "Bye Rarity."

"Have fun," waved Rarity as the four of them turned around and walked away. Closing the front door and trotting up the stairs, the purple maned unicorn was thinking about her little sister. "Oh Sweetie Bell, I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have you as a sister," she said out loud as Rarity approached her bedroom door. "After all you are the most…" Rarity was cut off when she realized her room was a mess. "…Ungrateful little mess maker!"

Afar from the boutique, Scootaloo heard a scream from a distance and asked, "Did anypony hear something?"

"Umm… I heard nothing, but I think we should walk faster," scurried Sweetie Bell as she walked ahead.

(Scene Change)

Stretching its wings, a hummingbird slowly opened its eyes when a gentle knock came from the outside of the hummingbird's home.

"Time to get up little one," came a gentle voice into the bird house. A sudden rush of joy came to the humming bird and flew out of its home to greet Fluttershy hovering in front of the red roofed bird house. Nestling itself against her cheek with a smile, the bird then pointed its wing into the opening of its house. With concern, Fluttershy closed one eye to look into the birdhouse and saw two tiny eggs resting in a patch of twigs.

"Oh, that is wonderful Mrs. Hummingbird," smiled the pegasus with delight. Nodding after Fluttershy's congratulate, it flew off to a patch of flowers that were right at the edge of the pathway that led to the cottage. Fluttershy then landed onto the bridge that leads to her home and looks to the sky to see a hawk flying high above.

"Do you see them," she called up to the winged creature. Streaks of brown and white darted down to the pink maned pegasus and a gust of wind blew into her face as it landed. The hawk then pointed a wing to its left. A good distance away was the red stallion and three small fillies. "Thank you Mr. Hawk." Before walking to the four of them, she then said to the hawk, "I have a fishing line in the backyard," she gestured her arm behind. "There should be a yummy fish on the hook, but make sure you don't eat the hook."

Somehow the hawk felt the need to solute the pegasus before taking off. As it did, the two of them went their separate ways when Fluttershy went to go and greet her visitors.

"Hay Fluttershy," the three fillies said to the pegasus as soon as they approached her.

"Oh, hello girls," replied Fluttershy with a smile. Red was the next color for the pegasus to see when Big Macintosh approached. "And hello Big Macintosh." She smiled but her yellow ears shied back.

The basket shook a bit as Big Macintosh nodded with a smile to greed Fluttershy. Looking at the basket, Fluttershy asked, "Oh, is that my basket?"

"Eeyup," replied the red stallion with the basket still resting in his mouth.

"Come on girls, to the back yard," cried Applebloom and the two other fillies shouted "Yeah!"

Dust was kicked up as the three sprinted towards the cottage and around to the back. Now that the fillies were gone, the two older ponies were finding it hard to find something to say. Only the sound of the girls faint giggling pierced the accuard silence.

"Umm…" Fluttershy was glancing around, trying to find thoughts in her head until she saw a pie resting in the basket. "Oh, is that a pie," finally squeezing out words from her tight throat.

"Eeyup…," Big Macintosh choked as a lump formed in his throat and he had to swallow it before he can continue his thought. "And I made it for you," he blushed and his ears folded. _Why do I feel so nervous all of a sudden? It's just a pie I made for her. _Flashes of her comforting him were stained in his brain, as if he missed the feeling.

"Oh, really," she questioned with delight. The pie was still warm even after the long trek from the barn and the sweet smell tickled her yellow nose. Before coming to the cottage, Big Macintosh had to deliver one pie to Applejack, on behalf of a special order. Some special celebrity wanted to try one of his pies.

"Why don't you come to the backyard and stay for a while, I mean, if you want to," Fluttershy turned and looked back at the flustered stallion.

"E…eyup," Big Macintosh replied as he shook his head, trying to remain his cool.

Both of them walked over the bridge and around the green hedge covered house. Not only was Fluttershy's home was full of nature, but also there were birdhouses in some of the trees that surrounded the pegasus' home and small woodland animals wondered around in the grass. Rounding the corner, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh arrived to the backyard, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting around the hawk that aided Fluttershy in scouting for her visitors. The hawk somehow did not take her caretaker's advice and had a hook caught in its beak. Lucky for it, was a mouse standing inside the hawk's mouth, carefully removing the hook.

A brief moment later and the mouse finally removed the hook from the winged animal and the three fillies cried out "Yippy" for the rodent's success.

Before the white mouse could jump out of the mouth, the hawk snapped its beak shut and made the girls shriek. "Let em' go you rapscallion," yelled Applebloom as she shook the hawk violently.

At this point, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were already nearby to see what had happened. "Mr. Hawk," Fluttershy said with a concerned look at the bird. Even though the hawk knew it was guilty, it shrugged nervously as if to say "I didn't do anything." Pokes and squeaks came from inside the hawk's beak and clearly told everypony that there was something in its mouth. "Now Mr. Hawk, you know as well as I do that Mrs. Mouse has a family and I told you not to eat her." Sweat was now starting form on the hawk's face, and Fluttershy was getting slightly irritated. She walked in front of the hawk and widened her eyes, and glared into the now defenseless bird. Her stare frightened the hawk and spat out the mouse onto the floor. "There we go, thank you Mr. Hawk," smiled the pegasus.

But the mouse was not happy about almost being the bird's next meal. It jumped up and waved its paw angrily and threw a pebble at the hawk's head before scampering off.

"How rude of you," scolded Sweetie Bell at the hawk. Ashamed, the bird lowered its head and slowly walked away.

Before it could fly away, Fluttershy spoke, "Oh don't be sad Mr. Hawk." Turning its head to his caretaker, she continued, "I hope you learn from this okay?" The pegasus then scratched the hawk under its chin and brightened the bird's attitude. It then flew off into the forest, behind the backyard.

"You handled that well Fluttershy," complemented Scootaloo.

"Oh, it was nothing," the yellow pegasus smiled.

"So what are we going to do to get our cutie mark girls," looked Sweetie Bell to her two little friends.

"Fluttershy said we can do whatever it may be, so long as it doesn't have anything to do with the Everfree Forrest," said Applebloom.

"As long as it is safe and nowhere near the forest, you girls can do anything today. Pinkie Promise," smiled Fluttershy.

The three fillies thought for a moment and Scootaloo shouted, "How about camping?"

"Camping? You mean camping outside," whimpered the yellow pegasus.

"Yeah, camping," agreed Applebloom.

"And camping in the… dark," shuddered Fluttershy.

"I've never camping before," said Sweetie Bell with glee.

"Oh, well… I'm not so sure about that…" Fluttershy was not too happy with the suggestion from the girls.

"But you Pinkie Promised…" frowned Applebloom with glassy eyes.

"Yes I did… okay girls, camping it is." Forcing a smile on her face, Fluttershy accepted her fate with camping with the fillies.

"Yeay," cried the three of them as they ran off around the yard, exploring what they haven't yet.

A laugh came from behind Fluttershy and she looked to see Big Macintosh still standing behind her but the basket was no longer in his mouth. Instead, it was on the bench near the back door to the cottage. He was smiling at all of the commotion that had just happened but Fluttershy looked and said to him, "Oh, I'm sorry… did I keep you waiting?"

"Nope," Big Macintosh replied, bringing a hoof to his jaw. His jaw ached a bit from carrying the basket for too long.

"Well, would you like to share the pie you made for me Big Mac?"

"Oh, umm… sure," he awkwardly replied.

"Okay, I'll go get some plates and forks." Fluttershy walked into the cottage while Big Macintosh sat at the bench, with the pie steaming in the woven basket. Over his shoulder were the fillies running about, chasing each other with a simple game of tag. It took little time for Fluttershy to emerge from the cottage and had two plates, a knife, two forks, and napkins. She then placed a plate and fork in front of Big Macintosh and then sat on the other side of the wooden bench.

"So… umm…," began Fluttershy but was interrupted by a tug on her pink tail. Two white ears and a mean glare looked up at Fluttershy when the pegasus looked down at what was trying to get her attention. "Now Angel, I have a guest and it would…" Grumbling came from the rabbit's belly and his angry look turned into an uncomfortable expression. "Angel, you didn't finish your carrot and you threw it away. I told you you would be hungry lat… OW!" A violent tug on Fluttershy's tail made it clear that Angel was not going to take no for an answer. "Okay Angel, I'll go get you another." Before walking away, she looked at Big Macintosh and sadly said, "Oh, I'm so sorry Big Macintosh, but I will be right back."

"Mhmm," Big Macintosh nodded before she got up and walked inside. Fluttershy disappeared into the home and Big Macintosh glared at the rabbit that was sitting on the ground, smiling with his eyes closed, and arms crossed as if he accomplished something. _Lil runt being all rude to Fluttershy like that, _he thought, grinning at Angel. Then an idea sprung to the stallion and a small grin came across Big Macintosh's face. He reached over into the basket and removed one apple from it; then he placed the apple on the table and rolled it towards Angel. The apple fell off the table and made a loud thump on the wooden seat and caused Angel to look up at what made the sound. Before he could see what made the sound, the big red round thing bonked on his head, dazing him. It rolled away while the rabbit sat in the grass, dizzy from the fall of the apple and it took a while for Angel to regain his vision. When he came to, the rabbit looked up and saw Big Macintosh with a grinning smile, laughing. Of course, Angel knew that Big Macintosh had the apple fall and wanted some retribution, but Fluttershy appeared once again and this time, with a carrot ready Angel.

"Okay, here you go," she approached the rabbit and handed the carrot to him. Angel snatched the carrot out of the pegasus' grasp and rubs his head from the pain the apple caused. "I'm so sorry again Big Mac," Fluttershy apologized again and sat at the bench. Looking shyly at the ground and then up to him she questioned, "Did I keep you waiting?"

"Nnope," smiled the red stallion and he then started to divide the pie into eight slices. Using the fork and knife, he reached over to her plate. Before the pie arrived to the plate, something sharp jabbed at Big Macintosh's knee, and his reflexes had his knee slam under the table. The slice fell next to the plate making a light splat.

Fluttershy shrieked and drew her hooves up to her chin and asked, "What was that!?" Glancing under the table, she saw Big Macintosh rubbing his knee and heard him grunting in pain. "Why did you hit your knee?"

"Something poked my…" Big Macintosh saw Angel walking away twirling the carrot and gave the stallion a snickering glance to him. _Why that little white rat!_

"I didn't see anything…" Fluttershy looked behind her to see what Big Macintosh was looking at. She turned back and on her plate was another slice of pie. The other slice was still slowly oozing some of the apples out of the sides. "Oh, you got me another slice?"

"Eeyup."

"Oh, but I don't want it to go to waste. I'll still eat it."

She was going to pick it up, but the red stallion reached over and touched her arm and said, "Nope, I will."

"Oh, okay." The pegasus lifted her fork and scooped a piece of pie. Just as the pie touched her tongue, a low and cheerful "mmm" sang from inside. Big Macintosh was leaning over to scoop up the slice onto his plate when he saw a bright yellow smile on Fluttershy's face. "Wow, this is the best of any apple pie I've ever eaten! Well… not to offend Applejack. I mean she makes good pies but…," she poked at the crust and hoped that she had not offended her friend's brother.

"Eeyup," smiled the red he began to eat away at the pie he scraped off of the table. To his surprise, it tasted better than he even anticipated.

Now that all the events have already occurred, the two ponies were having a hard time thinking of what to say. The two of them started to look in all directions and occationally look at the other when the other was not looking.

_Should I ask her why she didn't visit me at the hospital? No… she might think I am mad at her, _thought Big Macintosh. He looked back at Fluttershy and caught her staring at him, and she looked down in embarrassment with her pink hair shielding most of her face.

_Maybe I should just tell him that I was afraid of him being… mad, _gulped the shy pegasus. Her one eye that was not blocked by her hair slowly looked up to see the red stallion look into her and caused him to quickly retreat to another direction. _I mean… he wouldn't be here if he was mad…_

_The pie should be evidence that I have no anger towards you, _looked back the stallion.

Now they were locked into a stare and could not look away. "So… umm, Big Mac…?"

"Eeyup?"

"Big Mac," interrupted a voice from behind the back gate entrence. "We got trouble!" Applejack worked up a sweat as she panted at the gate.

"What is it sis," questioned Applebloom.

"Gophers. They came back this year, and this time with a vengeance." Dark looks came from Big Macintosh as his sister gave him the news the gophers came back. "Fluttershy, you mind giving me and Big Macintosh a hand?"

"Of course," replied Fluttershy. She looked back at the fillies and called, "Come on girls."

"Wait, where are we going," questioned Scootaloo.

"Back to the farm. We gotta go whack some gophers and sent them on home."

"What," Fluttershy spoke with a shocked look on her face. She turned to look at Applejack. "You wouldn't consider hurting such harmless creatures, would you?

"Oh, heh… of course not," Applejack said nervously. "Well now, let's get a move on sugarcubes!"


	4. Whackin' Troubles

Melody for my Dear

Ch4

"So how many gophers do we have this year Applejack," questioned Applebloom.

"More than your little head can even count," Applejack huffed as six ponies ran to the farm. Fluttershy was flying above the five grounded ponies, hoping she can keep up with the fast group.

"Oh, there's the farm," said Fluttershy pointing ahead of them, but she was not heard over the thundering hooves. As they approached, they slowed down and walked into the entrance. The yellow pegasus landed next to the group of them and looked around to see where the gophers were. However, the only thing she saw was the barn, the apple orchard, and the three fillies breathing heavily for some oxygen.

"I don't see any Applejack gophers," Fluttershy looked at Applejack.

"They were here just moments ago I reckon…" Puzzled, Applejack rubbed her chin with a hoof. _I know those gosh darn vermin were here._

"Maybe it is a small family and… EKK!" A mound of dirt emerged from where Fluttershy was standing and carried her away behind the barn, leaving behind a lumpy trail as it traveled across the farm.

"Common yall', follow that gopher!"

Applejack and Big Macintosh took off after the trail and Fluttershy. As they rounded the corner, Big Macintosh asked Applejack, "Hay sis, who's watchin' the apple stand?"

"Granny Smith. You don't mind that, do ya?"

"Eeyup."

After their exchange of information, Fluttershy past the two ponies in the opposite direction continuing to skid on top of the mound that continued to advance. It eventually came to a stop underneath an apple tree and out popped a head from the mound of dirt. The pegasus bounced up as the head surfaced from the ground and landed next to the creature. "Oh, hello there little one," Fluttershy smiled. Happy to see a friendly face, the small gopher smiled and waved its arm at her. Fear was then suddenly stricken on the gophers face as Applejack and Big Macintosh approached the two of them and dove back into the hole.

"Oh, it seemed scared…" worried Fluttershy.

"Well, we kinda had to shoo em' off last year," said Applejack with a nervus look on her face.

"How?"

Before Applejack could respond, a groan came from behind the three ponies. Slowly staggering on the ground, Applebloom dragged herself towards a water hose that was lying in the thin grass. Scootaloo followed, crawling on the ground, along with Sweetie Belle slouched on her back. Water shot out of the hose as soon as Applebloom turned the nozzle on all the way and she started to sip at the stream of water. As she was drinking the refreshment, an orange arm snatched the hose out of the filly's grasp. Her pegasus friend shoved the end of the hose in her mouth, relieving herself of thirst. It was not before long before Scootaloo began to inflate with water and her body began to expand. Pressure was built up to the point where the filly shot backwards, spewing water as she went. Sweetie Bell was left airborne when Scootaloo rocketed off before plopping to the ground.

"Wow, look at her go," Applebloom watched as her friend began to bounce off of the trees. Sweetie Belle was too busy to notice as she was pouring the water on her head and licking some of it in as it ran down her face.

Both Applejack and Fluttershy were amused at how exhausted the fillies were from the run to the farm and their desperation to drink water.

"Umm, Applejack, where is Big Mac," looked Fluttershy over her shoulder.

"Oh, I just saw him wonder off in that ol' shed over yonder," pointed the cowpony to a plain wooden shed. From it, Big Macintosh emerged from it with a mallet clenched in his teeth. Before he walked to the two mares, he evaded Scootaloo as she flew towards him and crashed into the shed. Both mares walked ran over to see if the filly was okay; she was, but Scootaloo's eyes spun as her head was stood up on the wooden floor and legs leaned against the wall.

"Oh, Scootaloo, are you okay," asked Fluttershy walking into the shed.

The filly's body slowly slid off the wall and onto her back. Lending a helping hoof, Fluttershy helped Scootaloo to all fours. "Thanks Fluttershy, but I'm fine," complimented the orange filly before tripping over a nail, slamming her face against the wall of a shed, and shaking a bucket from a shelf above her to fall over Scootaloo's head.

Applejack was caught laughing lightly by Fluttershy while the pegasus assembled Scootaloo to sit upright.

"You need to be more careful Scootaloo. I am responsible for keeping you safe," said Fluttershy as she revealed the little one's head.

"Ugh… sorry… my head hurts…," whined Scootaloo.

Both Fluttershy and Applejack helped the filly out of the shed, when suddenly a huge, brief rupture came from the ground which made everypony bounce a few inches off the ground. This caused Fluttershy to shriek and dash to a tree, clenching onto the trunk. Apples began to fall off some of the surrounding trees during the rupture.

"W…What was that," worried Fluttershy. The three of them looked around to see where the sudden force came from. Once again, a huge shake rocked the entire farm from an unknown source, and Fluttershy's protective tree vibrated and shook her off.

"Over there," called Sweetie Belle from a distance. Attention grabbed the three ponies to look where the voice came from. Not a second later, came another violent rumble.

"Oh, that must be Big Mac an' the other two," said Applejack with a sigh in relief.

"He is making all this shaking," questioned Scootaloo.

Curiosity overcame Fluttershy and she flew up into the sky to see what Big Macintosh was doing to create these insane ruptures. When she caught sight of the red colt, she saw an adorable head of brown appear from the earth and looked at Applebloom.

"Right there brother," shouted Applebloom and shot an arm at the gopher. A blurry swish of solid wood swung and crashed down on the poor earth creature. Big Macintosh had the wooden mallet clenched in his teeth. Defenseless to help, the airborne pegasus gasped and whimpered in fear that earth creature was injured, or worse. To Fluttershy's relief, the gopher poked its head aside the mallet with a shocked look on its face and lucky to still be conscious.

"There it is again," cried Sweetie Belle.

Rising once again, the mallet had its eyes locked onto the gopher. It squeaked and dashed back underground. Big Macintosh was about to swing when Fluttershy cried out, "Wait!"

Six eyes looked at the yellow pegasus as she flew over to the mallet wielder and the two gopher scouters. "Are you trying to hurt these poor creatures," Fluttershy glared as her eyes encountered Big Macintosh's.

"Nope," he hesitated as he casually tossed the wooden hammer aside.

"But we always got rid of em' this way," defended Applebloom.

"How come Applejack never told me about this?" Fluttershy looked back to see Applejack approach from behind along with Scootaloo trotting alongside her. Applejack knew she had to confront her friend about the gophers. The cowpony could see the sorrow in the pegasus' eyes and held her breath as she approached.

"I'm sorry for not tellin' ya about this problem in the past Fluttershy…" Applejack frowned, letting out the held in air. "It's just them little critters dig around the trees and chew up the roots. We need to make sure our trees get their nutrients so we can grow our apples. Ya hear what I'm sayin'?"

"Umm… well I understand you run a farm but…" Fluttershy was about to make her statement, when a slam came from a distance away from everypony. Big Macintosh was surrounded by mounds of earth as brown gophers poked in and out of the ground. They teased him as he swung the wooden hammer in attempt to hit one of them but failed every time. Many gophers then popped up around Big Macintosh and blew their tongues at him. Enraged, he rapidly swung at the holes, but in vain, missing every gopher as they popped in and out of the ground. Exausted, Big Macintosh's jaw dropped the hammer and the stallion sprawled out on his belly. His head rested in the grass as a small gopher appeared before his face. It quickly snatched a small rock and threw the rough sphere at the stallion's forehead. A hoof quickly fell over the gopher, but the earth creature was too quick for Big Macintosh and fled back into the ground.

Irritation was found on his face as Fluttershy approached the stallion. "Umm, want me to help you up Big Mac," she smiled shyly.

"Eeyup." She wrapped her hoof around his and attempted to assist Big Macintosh. The stallion rocked his body so he can get upright and have Fluttershy pull him up. His massive strength, however, overcame the pegasus, and when he pulled on her arm, it caused her to tumble onto him. Both ponies' eyes widened and cheeks flushed with red as they realized what had happened.

"Oh, umm… sorry Fluttershy."

"Oh, it's okay." The pegasus quickly got off of him and tried to show less blush by looking away. Big Macintosh helped himself off of the ground and rubbed his arm in embarrassment at what had happened.

Applejack and the three fillies chuckled as they approached the clumsy ponies. "He just can't seem to know his own strength, hugh Big Mac," questioned Applejack.

"N…nope," he replied, still flustered.

"So, how do we get these gophers off the farm," asked Scootaloo.

"Oh yes, that's right!" Fluttershy remembered what she was trying to do before past events occurred. "Everypony, please take a seat behind." As everypony planted their rumps onto the grass, the pegasus looked into a hole in front of her and spoke very softly, "Hello? Anypony home?"

Moments pass when a friendly brown head came from the hole. It looked behind the yellow pony to see the big red mallet swinging bully peering down onto it. Before it went back into the ground to flee, Fluttershy smiled, "Oh, please don't be afraid. My friend over there is very sorry for doing such a mean thing to you and your family. Watch me little one." She then turned to Big Macintosh and beckoned him to come over. Slowly but surely, he walked over to Fluttershy and sat next to her. The stallion felt guilt way him down as he sat in front of the gopher, knowing it was mad and scared of him. "Now Big Mac, why don't you apologize to the gopher?"

Looking down and ears folded, the stallion said low in shame, "Ah… ah am sorry little one. Ah didn't mean no harm, it's just, yall make a bit of a mess when ya go all diggin' about the farm." Trying to gain the trust of the gopher, he stomped the ground with one hoof, and an apple fell from a tree above him. Quickly catching it, he then lowers the apple to the earth creature and says calmly, "Here ya go little one."

A black nose sniffed the apple that was gifted to it. Then it grabbed the round fruit and retreated into the ground as it has done before. "That was very nice Big Mac," smiled Fluttershy with a bit of a glow in her eyes. Accepting the complement from the pegasus, he rubbed his head in embarrassment with a smile.

Without warning, a sudden twenty little bodies popped out of the ground and surrounded both Fluttershy and Big Macintosh. The gopher that received an apple pointed its arm at both ponies, chattering away at the others that came to the surface. Soon, a very old looking gopher with a gray beard slowly crawled out of a hole and walked up to the two ponies. "Oh my, is that your family Mr. Old Gopher," questioned Fluttershy. Answering the question, the bearded creature slowly bobbed its head. "Well, I'm sorry to say but my friends who live here, umm…" Fluttershy recollected her thoughts without offending the head gopher. She looked over her shoulder to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders whispering to one another as Applejack stared at the crowd of gophers. "…well, they think you can live in a better place than here. Behind my home, there is a nice hill for you and your family to live. I also have other rodents who live there so you can all mingle."

_By golly, she has sucha way with words,_ smiled Big Macintosh as the pegasus continued to speak to the elder.

"So waddia say!? I mean, it would be nice to have more company at my home…" shied Fluttershy as she sounded too eager to help the family of gophers.

Raising its gray brows, the gopher slowly turned around to its family and stood silently for a few moments. Everypony now had to wait eagerly for the answer from the elder; even the gophers were waiting in anticipation. The elder then held its chin up high, and bobbed his head up and down. A sudden "yeay" came from the group of gophers as the elder agreed to Fluttershy's proposal. Even Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered.

"That was some mighty fine work Fluttershy." Applejack walked over to the pegasus with a smile.

"Oh, well, I couldn't have done it without Big Mac," answered Fluttershy, looking up at the stallion.

"Really?" he questioned.

"Yup," giggled the pink haired pony.

"So Fluttershy, how will we get all these gophers to your cottage," Scootaloo spoke as she came through the crowd of gophers.

Something brown and soft brushed against Fluttershy's arm as she was about to answer. "Well, how about you, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom should go and get some baskets so we can carry all of these cute little things."

"Alright, girls you know what to do," called Scootaloo to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah," spoke the other two fillies.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER BASKET RETREAVERS! YEAH," called the three crusaders as they ran to the barn to go grab some baskets.

Fluttershy picked up the small earth creature that nuzzled against her arm and snuggled it close to her face. Holding it in Big Macintosh's direction, she joyfully asks, "Don't you just want to snuggle this little guy?"

Cute glassy eyes looked into the stallion's eyes as he responded, "Eeyup."

"Yall have fun now, ya here" Applejack turned to leave. "I gotta go an' help out Granny Smith at the apple stand."

"Oh, well, hope you have a great rest of the day," the yellow pegasus responded.

"Eeyup," waved Big Macintosh.

"An' Big Mac," the cowpony looked forward. "Yall don't be stayin' too long at Fluttershy's. I'll be needin' your help, ya hear?"

She started to walk forward as he spoke a low "Eeyup".

The colt stared at the back of his sister as her walk turned into a jog out of the farm. Fluttershy looked at Big Macintosh's half blank stare and asked, "Umm… is something wrong?"

"Nnope," he said, but his stiff stare said otherwise. _Why yall need me to help out on a Monday Applejack? It ain't even busy during the afternoon. _

"Are you sure? You look a bit concerned."

From a strait stare to a smile, Big Macintosh looked down and smiled, "Eeyup."

"WE GOT THE BASKETS," called the three fillies as they trampled through the trees.

"Alright girls and Big Mac," instructed the yellow pegasus. "We need to try to fit as much gophers into a basket, but not too much okay?"

Big Macintosh nodded his head while the three young ponies shouted, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ANIMAL RETREAVERS ARE GO!"

(Scene Change)

Light orange began to bleed into the afternoon sky at Fluttershy's cottage. Hooves clattered as five ponies walked over the bridge to the pegasus' home.

"Find a cutie mark girls," asked Applebloom with a basket of gophers balanced on her back.

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at the yellow filly's bare flank and replied, "No."

"Darn!" Slightly angered, Applebloom lightly kicked a stone that rested in the grass and it rolled down the slope and into the small river.

"Don't you worry Applebloom," Fluttershy told the frustrated filly. "When you least expect it, you will get your cutie mark." The pegasus then placed the basket of gophers onto the grass and told the three fillies and Big Macintosh, "Alright everypony, you can put the baskets down now."

As the ponies set down the baskets, the furry earth creatures hopped out of their carriages. Some sniffed the new air as others looked around their newly found home. "Excuse me," Fluttershy spoke to the group of gophers. "Please follow me and I will show you where your new home will be." She slowly walked backwards as the crowd of brown followed. After walking around the backside of the cottage, was a hill filled with lush grass and some clusters of flowers that spotted the area.

"Wow," spoke Sweetie Belle in awe. "It's so pretty!"

"I hope you and your family likes it," Fluttershy looked at the elder gopher. It rapidly nodded its head with a smile as the group chattered amongst themselves. "Just be careful not to dig too close to the surface of the ground," warned the pegasus. "You might hurt the flowers."

Heeding her warning, the elder then began digging a hole in front of him and submerged into the earth. Others soon began to follow into the hole until one little gopher was left. It went over to Big Macintosh with a smile on its face and hugged his hoof.

"Aww," spoke everypony instead of Scootaloo, sticking her tongue out in disgust. Big Macintosh then gestured the gopher to go back to its family. Looking up and waving at the five ponies, it then scampered into the newly developed hole.

"Alright girls," called Applebloom suddenly with glee. "Let's go set up for camping!"

"Yeah," shouted the other two fillies.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CAMPING IN FLUTTERSHY'S BACKYARD, YEAH!" Three colorful bodies dashed into Fluttershy's backyard and into her cottage, excited for the evening festivities.

Both Fluttershy and Big Macintosh laughed lightly as they walked into the backyard. "I promised them they could do anything tonight and they wanted to go camping outside in the… dark," whimpered the pegasus. "I mean, do you think I will be safe."

An arm fell across her neck and a friendly "Eeyup" came into her ears.

"Oh, thank you Big Mac," smiled Fluttershy with some of her mane covering her right eye.

The stallion nodded with a smile and looked to the sky. _Hmm, might as well head on out before Applejack throws a fit._

"Are you planning on leaving now," looked the pegasus as Big Macintosh looked at the sky.

"Eeyup," he said in a monotone voice.

"Well… before you go, I was wondering…" Yellow ears retreated in embarrassment as the shy pegasus attempted to ask Big Macintosh something.

"Hey Fluttershy," spoke Applebloom as she was opening the back door. "I was wondering where we…" Neither Big Macintosh nor Fluttershy heard the pink bowed pony as they were entwined with each other's gaze.

Sucking in a lung full of oxygen, the yellow pegasus exhaled quickly, "I was wondering if you want to spend time together!" Her eyelids slammed shut and ears still hid in a pink haired shelter. Ever so softly, Fluttershy spoke once again, "I mean… if you want to…"

As the pegasus slowly opened her eyes, a red faced smile met her. Big Macintosh's happy grin opened and answered, "Eeyup."

_Aww, how cute, _thought Applebloom after Big Macintosh accepted Fluttershy's invitation to spend time with each other.

"So, how about tomorrow we can…" went the pegasus a little excited but she was interrupted by the red stallion.

"Nope… too much work…"

"Oh… okay…," Fluttershy spoke softly and looked away, thinking she was too eager to set up plans.

"Tuesday," said Big Macintosh with a friendly smile.

"That will work!" A bright look on the pegasus' face was found once again.

Hoping she would not interrupt, the pink bow bounced as Applebloom walked over to her brother. "Ya might wanna get a move on. Applejack might not wanna worry about ya."

"Eeyup," lifted a red head, glancing at the sun and turning away from its glare. Both siblings exchanged a comforting hug before Big Macintosh began to depart from the cottage.

Just before leaving the backyard, a stick plopped next to Big Macintosh. He lifted a hoof as if to try to avoid it, and looked behind him.

With a hoof to her mouth, Applebloom called out, "Watch out for falling trees!" Instead of a typical response, the red stallion began laughing as he exited the backyard and rounded the corner. "Alright Fluttershy, let's get this tent all set up!"

"Y…yes, we should," responded Fluttershy, shaking her head from being distracted by her thoughts.

"Hey girls, ya commin' out or what," cried the bowed filly into the door of the cottage.

Fluttershy walked over to the door to open it, when it flung open as sheets, blankets, and pillows, engulfing the unprepared pegasus.

"READY FOR CAMPING," called out Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as the two of them rested atop of the pile.

"Umm, can somepony please help me," went a voice from beneath the sea of stitched cloth.

(Scene Change)

Flaming diamonds shimmered in the dark atmosphere after Princess Luna raised her vial over the sky once again. Attempting to hide from the presence of the white sphere, a triangular prism of blankets hang from a low hanging branch.

Dim lighting lit the hollow tent of cloth as an ere voice came from Scootaloo with a flashlight drawn to her face, "…and nopony ever saw them again…" Small animals huddled around Fluttershy as she and the small creatures shivered in fear from the finished horror story.

Two bodies were shaking underneath the blankets for a while and then suddenly stopped. "Great story Scoot," smiled Applebloom with glee.

"Yeah," squeaked Sweetie Belle as her voice cracked from her adrenalin. "I think that monster would make Rarity scream from all the mess he made, huh Fluttershy?"

A gentle nudge from the white filly pushed against the yellow pegasus. "Well… I guess but was everypony alright in the end after all?"

"Yes…" sighed Scootaloo slightly irritated from how Fluttershy cannot take a make believe story. "Two weeks later they all made it to safety and everypony saw them after all…"

"Oh good," smiled Fluttershy. Soft sighs came from the small creatures that huddled around the yellow pony. "I think it is time to go to bed." Stretching her wings and letting out a big yawn, Fluttershy rests her head down on a pillow behind her and lifts a woven sheet over her. All the animals had to slightly adjust themselves when she lay down to sleep.

Moments pass and the filly pegasus poked the now sleeping pegasus to assure she was asleep. "Hey, psst…" whispered Scootaloo to the animals that huddled around the warm body. Various sizes of eyes glanced up to the pony wielding the flashlight. "Remember when I told Fluttershy everypony got home safely?" Shadows of the creatures bobbed, answering Scootaloo. "Well… to tell you the truth… THEY REALLY DIDN'T!" Tiny orange wings clawed out and a mean stare fell upon the critters. Shuttering in fear, all the animals bunched close together attempting to comfort each other in hopes the horrifying monster from the story doesn't get them.

"Common Scoot, you're runnin' this story into the ground faster than Granny Smith in a mine cart," remarked Applebloom.

"I wonder if there is a cutie mark of ruining stories," snickered Sweetie Belle and Applebloom giggled along.

"I don't see you two good at telling stories," the pegasus filly growled.

"Hehe, yeah," smiled Sweetie Belle, rubbing her head. "I don't think I could be that scary."

"No kidding," Scootaloo shoved the white filly as she spoke.

After a brief moment of silence, Applebloom whispers, "Hey girls, I need to tell you somethin' I saw earlier today…"

"Oh," Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo spoke in unison.

"I'll tell ya under the covers." Applebloom pulled the blanket over the three of them with the flashlight brightly lighting up the area the fillies hid in. "So… did yall see how Fluttershy was lookin' at my brother?"

"Well, she was looking pretty shy today, but that is typical," answered Sweetie Belle with a smile.

"I know that silly, but remember how Mrs. Chearly looked at Big Mac when we gave them the love potions?"

"Don't remind me of that mushy stuff…" gagged Scootaloo.

"Think of that, but all shy looking too. Don't you get it? She gave him the eye!"

"OH," spoke the other two fillies in understanding.

"Umm… what's the eye," questioned Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, never heard of it," remarked the pegasus."

"YALL HAVE NEVER…" spoke Applebloom allowed. Both of her friends quickly crammed a hoof over the loud mouth.

Mumbling came from behind the hidden fillies and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle uncovered themselves to see where it came from. "Oh, thank you Big Mac…" Fluttershy spoke softly.

"Aww," whispered the two friends.

"Oh I get it now," exclaimed the white filly quietly. "You mean the way Fluttershy looked at your brother may suggest she is looking for a special somepony."

"That's right! We three need to make sure they are in love and then we make a gentle nudge to get them together."

"Yeah and this time, we will make sure they fall in love first."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LOVE INVESTIGATORS ARE UNDERWAY," chanted Sweetie Belle and Applebloom quietly.

"Remember the time when we gave Big Mac and Mrs. Chearly that love poison?" Applebloom waved her hoof at her friend with a smile.

"Yeah don't remind me, hehe. You remember that, right Scoot?" Silence filled the tent as there was no response from the orange filly. "Scoot, are you asleep?"

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH," shouted a horrifying voice from beneath the blankets. "I AM THE SLOP MONSTER!"

"AAAAGGGGHHH, SLOP MONSTER," shrieked the two startled fillies.

"AGH, WHERE," screamed Fluttershy. Among the chaos, frightened animals ran out of the tent, fleeing back to their homes.

"Hehe, gotcha," laughed Scootaloo.

"That wasn't very nice Scootaloo…," frowned Fluttershy.

"Sorry."

Instead of a frowning face or an angry glare, the yellow pegasus smiled, "Oh you better because I might tell you about… the STARE monster!"

"That's okay! Goodnight Fluttershy," spoke the Cutie Mark Crusaders in a panic. All three of the fillies cuddled against each other in hopes not to hear Fluttershy's story. Within a few moments, silence once again found its way back into the tent.


	5. Shield and Stick

Melody for my Dear

Ch5

Straw lay scattered in a small chicken coop during the first dull colors of the morning radiance. Many chickens snoozed in their own nest, some snuggling close against their yellowed young. One of the multi-color feathered birds shuttered a bit and hobbled out of its nest. Its red waddle shook as the rooster strutted to the entrance of the hut. Bringing a fist to his beak and with a clear of his throat, it shattered the silence with the usual caw of a rooster.

Yawns came from inside the triangular prism of sheets, following some grunts as someponies stretched from an uncomfortable sleep.

"Mm… hey Scoot," mumbled Sweetie Belle in a deeper voice than usual.

"Hm," replied the filly pegasus with a cough.

"I think your dad is calling." Applebloom heard the remark and began to giggle that followed with a yawn.

"Hardy har… very funny."

"Oh, good morning girls," spoke a voice from the opposite side of the tent. Two eyes shimmered from the sunlight that bled through some of the tiny holes from one of the blankets.

"Morning Fluttershy," spoke the three fillies in unison.

"So girls, I am going to go fix you three some breakfast and then go feed the animals." Yellow wings stretched out before Fluttershy stood up. She then walked outside and inhaled the fresh morning air.

Applebloom sat up and adjusted her bow that was cocked to the left on her mane. Two of her friends were beginning to sit upright when she spoke, "So girls, ya'll still want to make Big Mac an'…"

"Good morning Mr. Rooster. That was a nice cock-a-doodle-doo you did this morning," spoke Fluttershy from a distance.

_Ah need to be more quiet so Fluttershy doesn't hear me… _"…an' Fluttershy special someponies," whispered Applebloom.

"YEAH," squealed Sweetie Belle excitedly.

"SSSHHHH, keep it down," hissed Scootaloo. "We don't want Fluttershy to get suspicious about us."

"Oh, right… heh, sorry…"

"Then it's settled," smiled Applebloom. "When we get to the clubhouse, I'll give ya'll a journal so each one of ya can write down anythin' you see between the two of them."

"Sounds like a plan," smiled Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"CUTIE MARK CRU…" All three of them stopped their chant and realized they were too loud.

"Umm, maybe we should do this one quietly," suggested Sweetie Belle and her friends agreed.

"cutie mark crusader love investigators are go, yeah…" chanted the three fillies with a giggle.

With capes on their backs, the Cutie Mark Crusaders exit the tent and saw some of the animals awaking from their homes. Birds flew from their nests to retrieve their food for their young while other creatures emerged from the earth.

An aroma began to wisp its way through the cool dawn air and tickled the fillies' noses.

"Mmm," squealed Sweetie Belle with delight. "That smells heavenly!"

"Yeah, must be our breakfast," replied Scootaloo with a buzz of her wings.

Magnified by the sent, the little girls floated through the air and began to hover to the backdoor and into the cottage. Applebloom was last to enter, when a loud snore ripped through the air. Two white ears poked up from the wooden bench, but from Applebloom's perspective were unable to see what else was up there.

_Hmm, wonder who is up there,_ pondered the filly. Now the scent was too strong for Applebloom to resist and quickly walked into the cottage. At a table not too far from the doorway were her friends waiting for the meal being prepared for them.

"Oh, hello Applebloom," greeted Fluttershy with joy. "I made you and your friends some apple cinnamon porridge."

"I knew I knew that smell," smiled Applebloom as she and her pink bow hopped onto a chair. "Did Applejack give you her recipe?"

"Not really. I actually remember the recipe she and I made when you were sick one day."

"Oh, yeah… when I had that pesky sore throat. It was very delicious."

"I hope you girls enjoy it."

And they did. It did not take very long for the three fillies to finish their breakfast because they were too eager to find their special talent.

With bellies full, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were quickly outside in hopes they can obtain their cutie mark. Lucky for them, Fluttershy attempted to help the girls to try and find their talents by having them tend to her chickens. Applebloom quickly found out that throwing chicken feed at Scootaloo's feet would cause her friend to be swarmed by chickens. Even though it increased Applebloom's amusement and decreased Scootaloo's patience with her friend, it didn't improve the rate of getting their cutie marks.

Noon quickly rolled around as the three fillies ventured about the cottage, trying to find what there special talent is. Sweetie Belle knitted a shirt, but it was too small to fit either of her two friends. Applebloom wanted to cook some food for the animals, but the Fluttershy and the animals ended up helping her clean up a mess in the kitchen. Applebloom wanted Sweetie Belle to sing to the birds, but the white unicorn suggested that Scootaloo should sooth the birds with her voice. There was no soothing voice.

Frustrated, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat at the kitchen table where they ate there last meal.

Scratching her chin, Applebloom complained, "Hmm, what have we not tried yet?"

"Hmm…," pondered Sweetie Belle as she looked at her small shirt she poorly stitched together.

"Maybe we can build a bird house," smiled Scootaloo.

Before either of her friends could respond, Fluttershy frantically flew in and asked the three of them, "Umm, girls, I'm so sorry for interrupting but have any of you seen Angel? I looked in every rabbit hole, bird house, even the cookie jar he loves to sneak into. I am so worried…"

"Sorry, we haven't seen him…," frowned the filly unicorn.

"Oh dear…" Fluttershy whimpered in a panic.

Applebloom then remembered she saw a pair of ears on the bench before she walked into the cottage. "I think he is on the…"

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

A sound came from the wooden seal of the cottage. "One second girls," the yellow pegasus spoke to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. When the mare went to answer the door, she attempted to not look like she wasn't panicking by brushing hair with one of her arm and flatten some of the strands of hair that stuck out in a messy curl.

While the three fillies were discussing what color their birdhouse should be, they heard Fluttershy speak in a very quiet tone, "Oh… hello." Fluttershy's guest didn't interest the Cutie Mark Crusaders until she said, "Why don't you come inside Big Macintosh." At that moment, six ears turned towards the direction of the sound and the fillies could only stare at the two older ponies as they walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Big Mac," smiled Applebloom. "What brings you here?"

"He is here to pick you girls up," Fluttershy answered.

"Aww," whined Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom.

"Well, at least we can start working on the birdhouse at our clubhouse, RIGHT girls," winked Applebloom to her friends.

"Oh, yeah, THAT birdhouse, for TWO birds, hehe," giggled Sweetie Belle.

"Maybe we can paint it red and yellow," replied Scootaloo with a smile.

Obviously, that was not what the girls had in mind and would rather attempt to get Fluttershy and Big Macintosh together.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were about to grab their belongings, when Fluttershy asked, "Umm, before you girls go, can you please help me find Angel. I am really beginning to get worried…"

"Of course we can," smiled Scootaloo.

"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders," chanted Sweetie Belle.

"And anythin' we do will bring us one step closer to gettin' our cutie marks," shouted Applebloom. "Alright girls, you know what ta do."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RABBIT RESCUERS ARE ON THE CASE! YEAH," ran the three fillies to the backyard.

"Always so ambitious, aren't they Big Mac," Fluttershy spoke as she looked at the stallion.

"Eeyup," he replied.

"Umm… I don't mean to be a bother, but do you mind helping me find Angel, please?"

_An' search for that little white rat, _Big Macintosh thought in anger. _Stubborn ball of fur makin' Fluttershy feel all sad by pushin' her aroun' like some sack of chicken feed. Lucky for him she cares about em…_

"Oh, you don't have to if you don't want to."

Even though Big Macintosh despises Angel and the way he treats his owner, Fluttershy's tone did not sound like she would take no very lightly. With some thinking, Big Macintosh smiled at the yellow pegasus and said, "I'll help."

"Oh thank you Big Mac," Fluttershy responded with a smile.

Both ponies then walked into to the backyard, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking for Angel. One of the girls looked in the now wrinkled tent to see if the rabbit was resting in it and another using binoculars trying to see if maybe he went to the gopher hill.

"Any luck girls," Fluttershy asked the three fillies on the search for her rabbit.

"Not yet," replied Applebloom as she lifted up a lily pad that rested on top of the calm pond.

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear!" Big Macintosh would have followed Fluttershy, but she took off in a panic and wanted an aerial view instead of looking on the ground. "Angel! Angel!" Soft cries came from the frightened pegasus' voice while she frantically looked around for her rabbit friend.

_Hmm, now where could I start looking _thought Big Macintosh. As he scratched his chin with his hoof he looked to his left to see the wooden bench he and Fluttershy sat on the other day when the two of them were eating some of the apple pie he brought. The only thing that was different about the pie was that there was no pie and the pie tin was flipped upside-down. Something else bothered him; the pie tin was moving up and down very slowly.

_What in tarnation?_

Curious, Big Macintosh picked up the tin and found something that was white, had two ears, and a round belly. It was Angel lying on his back with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Crumbs of breading sprinkled the creature's mouth, indicating that it ate the rest of the pie. _Well, might as well alert the others, _grinned Big Macintosh a mischievous smile.

Letting whistled a loud "FWEET" by Angel's ears, the rabbit was in for a rude awakening. Because Big Macintosh startled him, Angel awoke with a jerk and accidentally pulled himself off the ledge of the table and ended up landing on the seat of the bench, but on his face. Stars rolled around the white rabbit when he tried to look in front of him. Once Angel's vision came to, he saw the all too familiar red pony that has been causing him trouble.

Big Macintosh attempted to show as if he had done nothing wrong, but the stallion's lips here trying ever so hard not to crack a smile. Two green eyes rolled around in the red pony's head until they met an angry gaze that could boil water. At that moment, Big Macintosh could not contain himself and a huge smile fell across his face as he let out a low chuckle.

"Hey brother," called a young voice from afar. Applebloom and her friends were at a good distance away when her brother heard them. "We heard a whistle from over yonder. Was that you?"

"Eeyup," he simply replied.

"So did ya find Angel?"

"Eeyup."

"OH THANK GOODNESS", a voice came from behind The Cutie Mark Crusaders. A blur of yellow dashed past the three fillies and Fluttershy came to a complete stop next to Big Macintosh. Two arms snatched angel off of the bench and Fluttershy cradled the rabbit in her arms. "I'm so glad you are okay!" After rubbing her cheek Angel's face, the pegasus looked at the bunny and asked, "Why are you so chubby Angel?" Crumbs were sprinkled around the rabbit's mouth which clued Fluttershy in on what Angel did. "You ate all of that pie, didn't you," the pegasus scolded. Angel made an uncomfortable expression as his body sagged and dangled while Fluttershy held onto him. Sighing, the yellow pony set Angel down on the table and smiled, "Well, at least you are okay."

"Good thing we had Big Macintosh to help us out," Scootaloo spoke with a smile.

"Eeyup," Fluttershy replied with an even bigger smile.

"You must be awfully thankful now that he found Angel, HUGH Fluttershy," Sweetie Belle nudged Fluttershy's yellow arm.

"Of course I am. Why would you think I am not?" Meanwhile in Fluttershy's mind, she was thinking, _OH MY GOSH, I FORGOT TO THANK BIG MACINOSH! _Trying to make her appearance look calm, she turned to the stallion and said, "Thank you for helping me find Angel." _OH NO, I HOPE I WASN'T TOO LATE!_

"Any time," Big Macintosh answered with a nod and smile.

_That was close… _thought the yellow mare in worry. "Well, I am going to go get Angel some carbonized soda. You girls should go grab your belongings.

"Yes Fluttershy," all three fillies responded and giggled as walked inside the cottage.

Before turning and walking into the florescent house, the yellow pegasus smiled and said again, "Thank you Big Mac, you relieved a lot of stress." The stallion was about to reply when she reached out to give him a hug. Big Macintosh reflexed and did the same. Both Fluttershy's and Big Macintosh's arm went around each other's neck and pulled each other close for a friendly embrace. As they did, the pegasus felt a warm cheek brush against her face. At that moment, time somehow felt slow. The brush on her cheek felt warm; nice; comforting. Warm blush covered Fluttershy's cheeks while the two continued to hold each other. She tried to let go, but she was afraid of showing her face. However, the grip of Big Macintosh was loosening and Fluttershy was doomed to show herself.

When the two ponies pulled away, the yellow mare was quick and turned her body with haste and faced the door. "I'll be inside getting Angel some soda. Please watch him until I get back, okay?"

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh nodded.

_I hope he didn't see my face, _Fluttershy thought as she went inside.

_Wonder why she was all like that, _Big Macintosh pondered to himself. _Then again, she is shy_. Air filled his lungs as he let in a big sigh and looked at the calm blue sky. It felt nice knowing he is befriending Fluttershy. After all, she did help save Equestria several times. But his calm thoughts were quickly interrupted when a metal tin pelted him in the face.

_Ah! What the…?_

Rubbing his injured eye, Big Macintosh used his other eye to see where the tin came from. At first he was greeted with a smile, but realized that smile came from that thing that treats Fluttershy poorly, Angel.

_Oh, ya'll think yer tough small fry, _glared the red stallion. Setting his hoof on the table in front of Angel, Big Macintosh gave Angel a shove and caused him to roll to the edge of the table. The rabbit tried his very best to stop himself from falling, but his heavy weight slowly pulled him off the edge. Once again, Angel was lying on his face, but on the earth this time. _Lil runt, _Big Macintosh smiled with silent laughter. He took his eyes off of the rabbit and looked at the door to the cottage. _Hmm, them little ones are takin' their time._

But his thoughts were interrupted yet again when something blunt struck the stallion in the skull. "AH," Big Macintosh grunted in pain. Both of his eyes searched for the location of where the rock came from and soon found his answer…

One decent sized stick was held by Angel and next to him was a pile of rocks. _WHY YOU…! _Without hesitation, the rabbit cracked another rock in the stallion's direction. It buzzed past Big Macintosh as the stallion avoided the blunt sphere. Looking for something to defend himself with, the red pony grabbed the pie tin to block with. This did not stop Angel from shooting rocks at Big Macintosh. With the pie tin at hoof, Big Macintosh used his advantage to block the attack that was raining upon him.

It wasn't long before Angel ran out of ammunition to fire at his foe. Angel was then quickly swallowed by a large shadow as Big Macintosh slammed down the pie dish over the rabbit and trapping him underneath. _Ha! Gotcha!_

But Big Macintosh's victory was short lived when a stick pierced through the brittle pin and poked the stallion's hoof and retracted his arm from the sharp pain. Using the hole that was created by the stick, Angel lifted up the pie tin and then held it in front of him and was now wielding it as a shield with the stick his another hand. _Cute, _thought the red pony with a grin. _An' what'r ya gonna do with that?_

Without warning, the rabbit threw the tin at Big Macintosh and in bounced off his cheek. Before the stallion could take away Angel's newly found shield, the rabbit used his stick to go through the hole of the pie tin and pull his protection back to himself.

_Alright, no playin' around, ya hear, _thought Big Macintosh now fed up with the antics. Grabbing a fork that lay on the bench, the red stallion was now wielding a weapon. Sparks flew as the two glared into each other's eyes.

Both were about to strike when a voice came from the doorway, "Umm, what are you to doing?" It was Scootaloo standing in front of Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Fluttershy. Neither of the two rivals moved and stood still with a dumb expression.

"Are ya'll fighting," questioned Applebloom.

"N… nope," Big Macintosh stuttered. "We're uh…" He looked down at Angel to find an answer but even the rabbit gave him a blank stare. "Well, we are…" A lump was caught in the stallion's throat and finished saying while grinning through his teeth, "P…playing… right Angel." The rabbit's ears shot up when he caught onto what Big Macintosh was doing and nodded in reply.

"Oh, that's great," Fluttershy smiled in delight. "Angel never gets to play with other ponies. Now Angel has a new friend."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh lied with a distasteful smile. In unison, both Angel and Big Macintosh slowly reached out an arm and then slowly shook hoof and hand, still having an awkward smile on their faces.

Even though Fluttershy seemed happy for the "friendship" the rabbit and pony created, the Cutie Mark Crusaders thought otherwise.

"Well, thank you for everything today Big Macintosh."

"Eeyup."

Everypony then began giving their farewells to Fluttershy and began to leave. As Big Macintosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were crossing the bridge, the yellow mare called out to her friend, "I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh turned and waved at the yellow pegasus as she stood at the entrance of her cottage. Atop of Fluttershy's head sat Angel. Without hesitation, the rabbit stuck out his tongue at the red pony. _Ya jus' keep askin' for it doncha,_ thought Big Macintosh. The pony replied back by blowing his tongue at Angel.

"Umm, Big Macintosh… why are you sticking your tongue at me?"

Shock fell on the stallion's face when he realized what he was doing. Big Macintosh was quickly able to reply, "Oh… umm… fly landed on ma mouth."

"Oh, okay." Fluttershy smiled as she watched the four walk over the bridge while Angel giggled in her hair. The pegasus looked up to see her white friend laughing, but didn't know what he was laughing about. "What is so funny Angel? Did you see something funny?" Angel replied with a nod of his head and continued to laugh. "Oh, well what was it? I mean, if you want to tell me…" Unfortunately, Angel grinned and shook his head in reply to Fluttershy's request. "Oh… okay."

Big Macintosh saw the two turn into the cottage and lost sight of them. _Stubborn little white rat, _thered pony thought to himself with an irritated look on his face.

One of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was about to ask why Big Macintosh looked so bothered, but her bow was tugged on by Scootaloo. "What the hay Scoot," Applebloom remarked in an angry tone.

"SHHH, keep it down," whispered Scootaloo. The filly pegasus then quickly walked ahead of Big Macintosh and gestured her friends to follow. When both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle caught up, Scootaloo exclaimed loudly, "SO GIRLS, WHAT SHOULD WE USE FOR OUR TREE HOUSE?" All three of them looked behind to see if Big Macintosh was listening but was actually looking elsewhere.

With the opportunity at hand, Sweetie Belle asked in a low tone, "Alright girls, what's the plan?"


	6. In a Hurry

Melody for my Dear

Ch6

Mechanical gears twitched and ticked inside an alarm clock as the long arm slowly approached the twelfth number. Light from the sun was already on the walls of Applebloom's bedroom. A blanket rose up and town as a little filly inhaled and exhaled air into her small lungs.

Soon the silence was shattered by the alarm clock, rapidly swinging its brass pendulum and banging on the bells. One yellow arm quickly slammed down on the noisy contraption to make it still again. Then the small pony quickly sat up with her eyes still closed, but then yelled at the top of her lungs, "TODAY IS THE DAY I WILL FINALLY GET MY CUTIE MARK!"

Several moments pass until the filly's bedroom door slowly opened. "Ya know…," spoke a female voice in a very tired tone. "…shouldn't you be a little more quiet in the…"

"MORNIN' SIS," exclaimed Applebloom as she zipped right in front of Applejack.

"Oh," Applejack replied with a yawn to follow. "Mornin' Applebloom." The older pony wrapped an arm around her little sister. It took a while for Applejack to collect her thoughts. "So…"

"SO, GOT ANY CHORES FER ME TA DO? BUCK SOME TREES, MASH SOME GRAPES, HERD THE CHICKENS!? " _Ah can't have anythin' interferin' with today's plan, _the filly thought to herself.

"Umm…" The requests from Applebloom caused Applejack to lose her train of thought again.

Meanwhile, the pink bowed pony kept listing off chores she could possibly do. "I could load the cart, sweep the floors, make some pie, sweep the floors, do the laundry, sweep the floors in the barn, clean the..."

Applejack lightly touched the filly's lips to stop her from speaking and said, "Just… clean yer room."

"That's it?"

"Yup. Ah forgot how work around the farm with Big Macintosh made chores a lot easier, so me an' him got so much done in the past few days that I myself might take the day off."

"Well that's good ta' hear."

"Well if yer so eager to skedaddle on out of here might as well get started on cleanin' up this pigsty."

"AN' MAYBE I COULD GET MA CUTIE MARK! I could be… A PROFESSIONAL ROOM CLEANER! Ya know, ah can be like one of them fancy hotel ponies that come in to your room an' clean all your stuff an'…umm … stuff!"

Both sisters smiled as Applejack rubbed her little sister's head. "Alright little filly, I'll leave ya to yerself to clean yer room."

"YOU GOT IT," Applebloom shouted with enthusiasm.

As the older sibling walked out of the bed room, she turned and said, "Now make sure you clean-"

Applebloom shut the door in her sister's midway sentence. "Ah know ah know. Pick up everythin' on the floor." _Ha, cleanin' my room? This will be a piece of cake,_ the little filly thought aloud to herself. She turned away from her door and faced the rest of the room. Toys were scattered around the room, some clothes were tossed on the floor, and even some dishes sat on top of a dresser. _Aww, this is gonna take forever… Wait don't be all negative Applebloom. You know what Daring Do would say: 'when in doubt, there is always a way out!_

It took no time at all before Applebloom had an idea. She grabbed a pillow from her bed, placed it on the floor, and began pushing it. As she shoved the stuffed sheet across the room, the filly began to plow her belongings that rested on the floor. Within a few moments, Applebloom had a pile of collected toys, clothing, and a various collection other items. _Alright, now it's time for the easy part. _

The filly's back foot scraped at the wooden paneling, readying herself; and with all her strength, Applebloom charged forward and shoved everything under her bed. However, the bed slightly tilted to the side because of all of the other things that were crammed underneath her bed.

"ALL RIGHT, TIME TO GO," exclaimed Applebloom. "I'll quickly get a bite to eat an' run to the clubhouse," she said to herself as the pony ran downstairs. Quickly, she found an apple, one carton of milk, and her favorite cereal cinnamon hay crunch. Instead of using a bowl, the filly dumped a good amount of the cereal flakes from the box and into her mouth, and then she guzzled down some milk. A bit of effort was needed to swallow all of the food in Applebloom's mouth, but managed in one large gulp. "Ugh… that was rough…"

One apple remained on the table for only a few moments before Applebloom inhaled the red fruit into her mouth. Before she knew it, she was almost out the door ready to take on the day and see if Fluttershy and Big Macintosh will become special someponies.

Just when Applebloom thought she was free, the filly felt a tap on her shoulder. "Applebloom?"

"Oh, yes big sis?"

Applejack towered over her sister as she asked, "Why you in such a hurry?"

"Jus' some good ol' fashioned crusadin' is all!"

"You so sure? You got ready awfully quick?"

"Umm… maybe I have a good feelin' about gettin' my cutie mark today!" Applebloom's wide smile tried to mask what she was really up to, but Applejack knew when her little sister was lying.

"Ah know you're super excited for somethin' today, whatever that may be," the older sibling reassured. "What ah don't want is you flakin' out on your chores."

"Course ah didn't! Why would ya think I would?"

"Ah jus' want to know if you shoved everythin' under your bed."

"Umm… OH, GOO'MORNIN' GRANNY SMITH," Applebloom waved into the house.

"Hugh?" Applejack looked to see if her old relative was hobbling down the stairs, but instead found no pony. "Hey App…" Caught in the middle of her sentence, the earth pony realized Applebloom dashed away while she wasn't looking. _Hmm, wonder what she's up to, _pondered Applejack as she walked up the stairs and towards her sister's bedroom.

(Scene Change)

Four little hooves slowly dragged up a wooden ramp that lead up to a pink clubhouse. Scootaloo would have flown up to the door, but her small wings were not strong enough to pick her body off the ground for longer than a few seconds.

As soon as she cracked the door of the makeshift tree house, a voice spoke, "Come on in Scoot! I saw ya from a good ways away."

Instead of greeting her pink bowed friend, Scootaloo walked over to the table where Applebloom was sitting, sat down, and plopped her face onto the table.

"Uh, yall right Scoot," questioned Applebloom.

"Yeah… I was just so excited for today I hardly got any sleep. I tried… to hurry as fast as possible… but all I need now is… Hey, where is Sweetie Belle?"

"I dunno. Maybe she is doing chores or something."

Not a moment too soon when a white unicorn burst through the door. "So sorry I'm late!"

"Not a problem; But if I may ask, what held you up," Applebloom asked her friend.

"Well…"

(Scene Change)

_I was finished cleaning up my room and helping my sister move some heavy boxes. Too bad she didn't bother to help._

"Okay sister…" panted Sweetie Belle as the small filly pushed the final box atop of a large pillar of brown packages. "I got all of the boxes stacked."

"Thank you Sweetie Belle," called her sister from upstairs. "It's so nice to have a sister do all that heavy lugging for me."

"Yeah, so nice…"the white unicorn spoke quietly to herself.

"Now would you be a dear and clean up after yourself. I know you had to make some… adjustments when lifting those boxes."

Right next to the last pillar that Sweetie Belle constructed was a large hill of pillows and blankets and she was on top of the pile of soft fabric. A heavy sigh gusted out of the small pony's mouth as she thought, _I'm never gonna make it out of here. _But with no way of getting out of it, Sweetie Belle got off her makeshift hill, pushed the final pillar of boxes, and began disassembling her large lump of cloth.

To Sweetie Belle's surprise, she finished in no time at all. "All RIGHT," screeched the unicorn filly as her voice cracked as she said "right." She ran to the top of the stairway and shouted, "ALRIGHT RARITY, I AM LEAVING!"

"Alright, have fun dear."

Little did the filly know that her next action would undo all of her hard work she had just finished. When Sweetie Belle turned to walk down the stairs, her forearms crossed each other and caused the white unicorn to stumble downs the stairs. She attempted to stabilize herself, but ended up picking up enough speed and made her roll down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Sweetie Belle bowled across the floor and headed straight for one of the large tower of boxes. Before she knew it, her back struck the box with a thump.

Even though she was dizzy, Sweetie Belle's spinning reality saw the large tower of boxes she bumped into teeter forward and backward. Unfortunately, the tower teetered too far forward and bumped into another stack of boxes and soon that pillar fell onto another. The filly was hoping that her vision was still dizzy, but she was seeing the reality of the domino effect. Luckily for the sake of lesser messes, the stacks of boxes stopped falling because the momentum of the toppling stacks slowed down. At least half of the boxes remained standing.

Nevertheless, the mess was catastrophic. Random colored strips of fabric littered the room in a somewhat organized half circle. Some boxes that fell did not open but were upside-down.

Sweetie Belle flinched when she heard her sister speak from upstairs, "Sweetie Belle, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," the young sister responded while trying to muster up a lie. "I'm just umm… drumming on the boxes. That's it! Never know if I might get a cutie mark in being a drummer."

"Ooo, that would sound like a great special talent! You could do a drum roll every time I release a new design."

"Well I'm off!"

_And before I knew it, I was out the door._

(Scene Change)

"Did your sister find out about the mess," Applebloom questioned her friend.

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe she is still upstairs making dresses."

Sweetie Belle spoke too soon when a voice screamed in the distance, "SWEEITE BELLE!"

All three of the fillies flinched as the glass window of their club house cracked from the distant shriek.

"I guess she found out," said Scootaloo as she scratched the back of her head.

"Good thing I didn't tell her where I was going."

"Well ah think we wasted enough time," exclaimed Applebloom. "Time for business!"

All three of them sat at the table Scootaloo was resting at. Each one of them pulled a note book from underneath their benches.


	7. The Wasp's Disruption

Melody for my Dear

Ch7

The wheels of a small red wagon rattled on the dirt road as two fillies began leaving Sweet Apple Acres. A rope was wrapped around Applebloom and she was using it to pull the wagon.

As they walked, Sweetie Belle began summarizing their plan. "So all we need to do is take quick notes whenever something interesting happens, make sure that when we get close, no pony gets caught, and if we are caught, we can just say we are going to a picnic with this wagon we brought along."

"Righto," exclaimed Applebloom in excitement. Looking behind her, the pink bowed filly said, "Yall havin' a good rest Scoot?"

From underneath a red and white sheet that covered the top of the small trailer, an arm reached out and a "Mmhmm" came out.

"But once we do have our picnic, all of us can sit down and exchange our notes."

"And if we do get Big Macintosh and Fluttershy together would be so CUTE," squeaked Sweetie Belle as she said "cute."

"Ah know! Jus' think about it… if we get em' to fall in love, Fluttershy would be over more often. If that happens, we could have Fluttershy use some of 'er animal control powers to make her pets do chores aroun' the farm!"

"You make it sound like Fluttershy is some magical wizard." Both fillies laughed at the thought of Applebloom's possible scenario. "So you made sure that Big Macintosh left already?"

"U' course ah did. All we need to do now is take a slow walk to Fluttershy's cottage and make sure that we don't catch up to ma brother."

Just when the fillies thought they were in for an easy walk, a voice screamed on the farm, "APPLEBLOOM, WHERE ARE YOU! YALL BETTER BE HIDIN' GOOD 'CAUSE WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU AIN'T GONNA BE CLEANIN' YOUR ROOM, BUT THE WHOLE DANG HOUSE YA HEAR?"

"Was that Applejack," a voice spoke from beneath the picnic sheet.

"What's that, you want to hurry to Fluttershy's," Applebloom spoke in a panic. "You got it!"

It didn't take long for the wagon to pick up speed as the yellow pony sped up and quickly ran ahead.

"_WWWAAAHHHHH, BBBEEEEEE CAAARRREFFUUUUULLL, IIIIMMMMM SSSSTTTTIIIILLLLL IIIIN THEEE WWWAAAGGGIIINNN," _cried Scootaloo from inside the haled vessel.

"Wait for me," Sweetie Belle's voice cracked as she called from behind.

(Scene Change)

Peace seemed to engulf the very livelihood that surrounded the two story cottage. Very slowly, Big Macintosh crossed the stone bridge that stretched across an extremely thin river. He looked to his left to see a lovely rose bush with beautiful flowers that swayed in the gentle breeze. While the stallion looked at the flora, he saw a pair of bees collecting pollen from one of the flowers; however, what caught his attention was a wasp that was hovering over the flower that the bees were occupying. When it tried to land, one of the bees aggressively flew at the wasp and shoed it off; so the bigger insect then flew elsewhere and out of view.

Big Macintosh was allowing distractions to interrupt what he came for and continued to the front door of the cottage.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom poked their head around the corner of the underside of the bridge from behind.

"You sure we can leave Scootaloo in the wagon," Sweetie Belle asked her friend quietly.

"If she is goin' to help, Scoot's gotta get her sleep."

From the perspective of the little girls, they saw the large stallion walk towards the door of Fluttershy's cottage. Neither of them could see Big Macintosh's expression too well because their view was at an awkward angle, but that did not stop the two fillies from getting a little excited.

*KNOCK* KNOCK*

The moment of truth was about to happen. Applebloom rounded her head around the corner as much as she could while Sweetie Belle did the same, but stood on top of her friend. It didn't take much effort for the pink bowed pony to shove off her friend. The push caused Sweetie Belle to fall in the short but thick grass and made a large rustle and thump.

Alerted, Big Macintosh turned to see what made the noise but found nothing.

Lucky for Sweetie Belle, Applebloom pulled her back behind their cover. "Can ya'll be more careful," the yellow filly hissed quietly.

"I would if I could get a better look at things."

"But we need to stay hidden. This might be a good chance for us to get our cutie marks in-"

"Oh, good morning Big Macintosh," a familiar voice spoke from around the corner of the bridge.

Quickly stretching their necks around the corner, a compliment or red and yellow stood at the entrance of the cottage.

From the perspective of Big Macintosh, both he and Fluttershy reached out an arm and gave a quick hug. "Mornin'," the red stallion replied to the pegasus' greeting.

"So, umm… I was wondering if you can help me with some grocery shopping?" Reaching inside a small satchel that rested on Fluttershy's hip, the mare pulled out a list of produce that she needed for the day and handed it to Big Macintosh. While the earth pony read the list, the pegasus continuing where she left off. "I am low on a lot of vegetables and fruit and was hoping you can help with picking the freshest produce."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh replied as his eyes continued to scan the list. _The only thing ah don't like on this list are pears… _he thought with a frown.

But when Big Macintosh finished looking at the list, he saw his friend looking in another direction with a worried look on her face. Speaking quietly, Fluttershy spoke, "I… I hope you don't mind doing something boring with me. I mean, I did have something planned for us today, but some things came up yesterday and I could not get any shopping done. And because of yesterday, I don't think we will have time to do anything fun and I don't want you to get mad at me and not want to be my friend all because-"

Something sealed Fluttershy's lips as the mare's face flushed with pink. Big Macintosh gently pressed his hoof on her lips to silence the rambling and nervous mare.

With a smile, the red pony said, "I'll help ya."

"Y… you do?"

"Eeyup!"

"A…and you won't be bored?"

"Nope!"

"You promise?"

A short chuckle came from Big Macintosh because of Fluttershy's amusing questionnaire. "Yes, ah want to spend all day with ya."His bright smile reassured that he meant what he said.

"Okay, I believe you. Thank you Big Mac," Fluttershy smiled while a long strand of pink hair shielded one of her eyes. "Well, let me go grab a basket and we can be on our way, okay?"

"Eeyup."

As soon as the yellow pony walked out of Big Macintosh's field of view, shock ran across her face. _Why was I so nervous? I mean, I know I am shy around anypony that are not my friend, but why Big Macintosh? What makes me so scared?!_

Meanwhile outside, the stallion patiently waited outside, looking at the roses again. He saw the two bees he saw earlier still pollinating on the large red flower. _Hmm… how come they haven't moved?_

From behind, two little fillies scribbled notes in their notepads. So much has happened in a matter of a few seconds, but every bit of information was important if the Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to help Fluttershy and Big Macintosh become special someponies.

"Alright, whatcha got written down Sweetie Belle," Applebloom asked as soon as she finished with her note-taking.

"Well… I have come to a conclusion that Fluttershy is very shy."

An irritated expression glared at the white unicorn.

"What? You told us to take notes on things that are important and that IS vital information that will help us in the long run."

"True. So, what did you write about my brother?"

"He likes to look at flowers," Sweetie Belle smiled as she pointed the pencil at her friend.

Without warning, Applebloom snatched the notepad that the filly unicorn had. Quickly looking over her friend's notes, the pink bowed pony said, "Ah do agree we do need to get closer, but it's a bit risky."

"And if we are caught, our chance of getting our cutie marks in private investigating is a lost case…"

"But good observation Sweetie Belle."

"Thanks," squeaked the white unicorn.

While the girls were not looking, they heard Fluttershy speak, "Thank you for waiting." Immediately grabbing their attention, the two of them looked around the corner once again to see the two older ponies standing in the entrance of the cottage.

"Are you ready to go Big Macintosh?"

"Eeyup," smiled the stallion.

In his peripheral, he still saw the two bees collecting pollen from the same rose.

"Okay, let's go." Setting the basket she just got down on the ground, Fluttershy was about to close the door when her head lifted up as she remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot!" The mare turned to her friend and asked, "Umm… is it okay if I bring someone?"

As soon as she said that, the wasp from a while back buzzed past his face and approached the roses once again.

"Eeyup."

"That's good."

_Wait, did she say someone and not somepony?_

Glancing quickly at the flowers, he saw the wasp slowly back up as if ready to strike.

"I figured you wouldn't mind me bringing your friend along anyways."

Soon, two ears poked out from behind Fluttershy's head.

_Oh no…_

And just like that, the wasp dashed at the rose and both bees scattered just before the large insect pounced on the red flower and claimed it for itself.

Climbing on top of her head, an all too familiar rabbit came into view.

"And I thought Angel wanted to see his friend today too. Am I right?"

"E…eyup…"

Even though Fluttershy had a happy smile on her face, the rabbit that rested on her head had an evil grin on his face. Big Macintosh tried to create a plastic smile, but his expression kept melting into an awkward one.


	8. Basket Full of Sunshine

Melody for my Dear

Ch. 8

"Is… something wrong Big Macintosh," Fluttershy spoke in a worried tone.

"Oh, umm… nope," the stallion hesitated as he answered. "Ah umm, didn't expect you to bring ma… f… fre…"

"Friend?"

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh relied with a nod. Atop of the pegasus' head, Angel shuttered and stuck his tongue out in disgust. _Don' worry, ah know how ya feel bein' called ma 'friend' _the red pony thought to himself.

"Well, shall we be going?"

"Eeyup."

"Wait, one more thing," Fluttershy spoke as she remembered something. _I almost forgot the basket, _the pegasus thought in a bit of a panic.

As she picked up the basket, Big Macintosh smiled asked, "Mind if ah carry that for ya?"

"No, iffs okay," the pegasus responded with a muffled voice.

"Ya sure? Ah wouldn't mind."

The smile he was giving her was almost hard to resist his offer. "If you want to then of course you can." Without warning, Big Macintosh leaned in and took the basket from Fluttershy. As he did, his cheek brushed against her face just before taking the basket in his mouth.

Pulling his head back, he noticed that Fluttershy had her face turned away and ears folded back. "Yall right?"

"Y… yeah, I'm fine." Instead of a nervous frown, the pegasus had a shy, flustered smile.

During the time Fluttershy had her expression hidden, Big Macintosh and Angel had their bodies still as the two of them were locked in an angry petrified gaze. Making the first move, the rabbit brought both of his hands under his eyes and then darted his arms at the stallion's direction as to say, "I got my eyes on you." _Oh, bring it on small one._

"I can see you are having a friendly staring contest," Fluttershy spoke as she caught the two of them glaring at each other.

Quickly responding and keeping the two of them out of trouble, Big Macintosh said, "Eeyuff!"

The pegasus walked a little ahead and said with a little smile, "Let's go Big Macintosh."

"Eeyuff." After adjusting the basket he was holding in his mouth, Big Macintosh, Fluttershy, and Angel were off.

There were some grim clouds that dotted the sky, but the sun continued its magnificent shine. "I wonder if it might rain today," Fluttershy spoke as they approached the bridge that passed over the river. "What do you think Big Macintosh?"

Gazing at the sky for a moment, he answered, "Nope."

"I don't think so either. The clouds are not clustered together so that is a good sign."

"Eeyuff."

Under the bridge, two fillies heard hoofsteps crossing the bridge. One of them whispered, "Let's wait till they are a good distance away. Then we come out of hiding."

"Good idea Sweetie Belle. An' once they are gone, we can talk about our notes with Scootaloo."

Even though they were expecting the hoofsteps to fade away in the distance, the refugees under the bridge heard nothing at all. Instead, they saw a blurry yellow face that rested on the watery surface and startled the two fillies. They thought they were found out, but Fluttershy reassured that they were still in hiding when she said, "Oh, Big Mac, please come see this!" Another face appeared atop of the river stream and looked into it. "Do you see it," the pegasus spoke again. "It's a magical carp! They are a rare species of fish from a foreign land and was fortunate enough to be able to buy one at a Manehattan pet shop."

Out of perspective from the fillies, Big Macintosh was standing a bit behind Fluttershy as she was leaning in towards the fish that dwelled in the water. It was hard to see, but the carp did have a beautiful assortment of colors on the scales of the fish. All the while this was going on, Angel was sitting on the mares back, desperately trying to get her attention as he rapidly thumped his foot at the base of her neck. "Not now Angel. I just want to make sure that our new fishy friend is enjoying itself."

Instead of throwing more of a fit, the rabbit plopped his rump down in a huff, crossing his arms.

_What's got your ears in a knot, _Big Macintosh thought with a glare on his face. Suddenly, the wasp from earlier began buzzing near him, as if he wasn't bothered enough by Angel; now he has to deal with this yellow nuisance. But it didn't take long for the wasp to find a place to rest. To the stallion's fortune, it landed right on the white rabbit's tail. Angel did not seem to notice as he was still angry at Fluttershy for not answering him the way he wanted. A grin went across Big Macintosh's face as the sun went behind a cloud. Cocking his head to the right with the basket in the stallion's mouth, he spoke in his mind, _two for one. _

Swiftly, Big Macintosh swatted Angel and the wasp off Fluttershy's back. Both rabbit and insect crashed into the river and onto the carp. "EKK," the pegasus shrieked.

Even the two fillies were startled by the sudden splash.

With a quick turn, the looked at Big Macintosh and spoke, "What was that?!"

Setting down the basket, he explained, "Oh… it was a wasp. Darn thing darted at me so ah swung the basket here and accidentally hit ma… friend." The word "friend" slowly scrapped the stallion's throat as he said the word. _Ah hate mentioning that… THING as ma friend. _

Looking down in worry, Fluttershy tried to see through the disturbed water. Light began to brighten up as the sun came from behind the cloud as Angel resurfaced on top of the magical carp's back. When it revealed itself, the beautiful complement of purple and gold cloaked the magnificent fish.

As the rabbit had a bit of an irritated look on his face, he looked to his left to see two small ponies under the bridge and his ears darted up.

"WE'VE BEEN FOUND OUT," Applebloom whispered in a panic as she shook her friend.

Before Angel could react, the carp bent its back downwards and then bucked its tail upwards, shooting the white animal up onto the ledge of the bridge. "Are you okay Angel?!" Fluttershy hugged the drenched rabbit and set him on her back as she reached into her satchel to grab a small rag. Very roughly, the pegasus rubbed the small towel on the wet rabbit to dry him. When she finished, Fluttershy looked into the river and said smiling, "Thank you magical carp."

In her peripheral, the pegasus suddenly saw Angel standing on the edge of the bridge. "What is it?"

With no hesitation, he hopped down to where the Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were hiding and looked up to Fluttershy and pointed to where they were.

"Is something down there?"

Angel responded with a rapid nod. But as soon as he looked to find the two fillies, he noticed that they were gone. No mane, nor tail were found of the spies that lurked beneath the stone bridge. Pondering where they would have gone, two heads stretched under the bridge to see the rabbit in thought. "I don't see anything," the pegasus said softly. "Do you?"

"Nope," Big Macintosh spoke in reassurance.

Looking to the sky, Fluttershy spoke in a bit of a hurry, "Goodness, we better hurry. It's almost lunch time and we still need to get our shopping done.

"Eeyup."

"Come on Angel, we are ready to leave." Taking no time at all, the rabbit ran around from underneath the bridge to meet up with the two ponies. He jumped onto the pegasus' back and again went atop of Fluttershy's head. "You really like it up their don't you?"

Angel could not disagree. He did like it up at a higher elevation. There was more to look at, feel the nice breeze, and most of all, irritate Big Macintosh with his menacing glare.

"Shall we," Fluttershy turned to Big Macintosh with a smile.

"Eeyup."

After all the interuptions, the three of them began to head for the Ponyville market. While they were walking, Fluttershy asked, "Did you see how beautiful the magical carp was?"

"Eeyuff," the stallion replied with the basket in his mouth again.

Soon the hoofsteps faded and silence came over the cottage. All that could be heard was the water rushing against the rocks that were above the surface of the water.

"Are they gone," Applebloom whispered.

"I think so."

"Good, 'cause ah am gettin' tired."

Directly under the bridge, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle used the gap underneath the stony extension to hold themselves up and avoid getting caught.

"Uh-oh, ah am givin' way…" Applebloom whined as she began to slip.

"Same… he- WAAAGGGHHH!" Sweetie Belle shrieked as she fell into the river. Following her was Applebloom and her gravitational pull towards the water. In a panic, the white unicorn asked with her voice cracking, "The notes! Where are the notes?!"

As Sweetie Belle lifted her friend up by the cheeks as Applebloom answered, "Ah left them on the ground where we last were."

"Thank goodness," the panicked filly spoke with her voice cracking again. She let of Applebloom and the yellow filly's face was found underwater again.

Lifting her head out of the water and shaking the liquid off of her, the earth pony walked over to Sweetie Belle as she looked over the notes they took. "Ah think we should head off now. They must be a good ways away by now."

"Then let's go!"

With a swing of their arms, their hooves collided and the girls cried out, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LOVE INVESTIGATORS IS STILL UNDERWHAY!" And with a giggle from their childish antics, they were off as well.


End file.
